Once Upon a Time month...an extremely rambly update the first...

My reading began with Philip Pullman's Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. I was pretty certain going in that I would love this book, after all, what's not to love--Philip Pullman and fairy tales--pretty much a no-brainer. Ahhh, but I discovered that I not only love this book, I am utterly enchanted by it. Enchanted.

I wish very much that I was more knowledgeable about fairy tales, but the fact is that I'm almost afraid to talk about reading them at all for fear of embarrassing myself. It's really only in the past few years that I've begun reading them at all; they were not really a part of my childhood. But I find such delight in them. And I love them in every which way they are told, from the old "originals" right up to the modern fill-in-the-gaps, explore-the-motivations, see-it-from-another-angle retellings that are so popular today.

Anyway, back to the book...I've now read the first ten tales. I easily could have ignored all my responsibilities and curled up in my chair and devoured the whole thing by now, but with a great show of willpower, I've made myself slow down. I just want this book to last. In one of the myriad of games I play with myself, I decided that I get to read ten tales and then I must set the book aside and read another book. Hopefully this will still allow me to finish it by the end of the month however.

When I first heard of this book, I assumed that this was a book of reinventions. It wasn't until I read Ana's incredibly wonderful review that I realized they were not. Instead they are a selection of Grimm's tales (50 of them, I believe) told by Philip Pullman. In other words, they are the same stories as one would read in one of the versions of fairy tales that the Grimms published but told in Philip Pullman's words. And each story comes with a short commentary afterward by Pullman.

I said earlier that I was enchanted by these tales. And while this is very true, it's an enchantment I can't quite explain. Because nearly all these tales have elements that bother me. They are not the kind of stories I would tell my children with the purpose of exposing them to great moral lessons. The princess in "The Frog King" is a rude, spoiled brat and yet she is rewarded. This goes against my deepest wish for myself and my kiddos in life--BE KIND.

Anyway, of the first ten tales, there were a few widely familiar ones such as "The Frog King," "Rapunzel," and "Hansel and Gretel." While "Hansel and Gretel" is a favorite of mine (largely because of some of the retellings I've fallen in love with, such as "A Delicate Architecture" by Catherynne M. Valente and "Hansel's Eyes," by Garth Nix), I think I was even more taken with a few of the tales that were completely unfamiliar to me. "The Twelve Brothers," "The Three Little Men in the Woods," and "The Three Snake Leaves" all captivated me.

One of the innate qualities of fairy tales is that the characters are more like caricatures. And I believe that is one of the things that makes them so perfect for retellings. Quest for Screen was the perfect impetus to get me to finally view one of these wonderful retellings. During Eva's wonderful visit last November she convinced me that I really needed to watch Once Upon a Time, and while I immediately added it to my instant queue on netflix, I never got around to starting it. Until this week. And then what happened? Well, I gobbled up the entire first season! I was obsessed, I tell you, like the show cast a spell right over me.

I realize that I'm even less adept at discussing movies/TV than I am about books, so trying to explain what it is about this show that stole my heart isn't easy. I loved the characters...all of them, actually. I adore the way that even the "evil" characters are made human. There are reasons and heartbreaks that helped shape the way they behave. Everyone's lives have pain. And I love how the characters all respond differently to it. I love the clever ways in which the writers combined and reimaged stories, like with Belle and Rumpelstiltskin. I love the beautiful scenery. I love that while we see lots of traditional gender roles, we also see them turned upside down. I don't, however, love how white the show is--seriously, this show could be so wonderfully diverse, and it just isn't. (Does season 2 get any better on this front? *fingers crossed*)

And speaking of season 2, I wonder how long it will be until it gets to netflix? While I wait, I think I'm going to start a rewatching of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Actually I did rewatch season 1 not all that long ago...ha, but I don't care--I'm still going to start over from the beginning and hopefully finish all three seasons before the end of the month. Why this sudden urge? I blame Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search, Part One. This is the book I read after finishing my first ten tales. I know I said it of The Promise, but I cannot help but say it again--the way Gene Luen Yang and company have been able to keep these graphic novels true to whole feel of the series simply awes me. The Search, Part One brings me back to the world, and more importantly, to the characters that I love so very much. (Except for Toph...I missed her!) The search referred to in the title is the search for Zuko's and Azula's mother. We finally get a look at her life, and learn how she comes to marry Ozai. I don't want to say too much, but there are some interesting revelations. I love this story so damn much, and I couldn't be more grateful that these graphic novels exist to keep the story going.

I guess the only other thing I have to mention for this update is that we all went to see The Hobbit at the dollar theater on Easter. I knew that I would enjoy the movie, but was still reluctant to go. I just have a very hard time watching a screen and not doing something "productive" at the same time, so sitting in a theater can be akin to torture for me. Well, The Hobbit captivated me so completely that I didn't once miss having my crocheting or any such thing with me. Ridiculous as it sounds, that's pretty high praise from me. :P

So all in all, my first week immersed in Once Upon a Time have been nothing short of delightful!

randomness taken to the extreme...

*One of the those reminders of why I'm glad I live today as opposed to during colonial times. From The Witch of Blackbird Pond:

A young surgeon was summoned from Hartford to bleed her, and a nauseous brew of ground roasted toads was forced between her cracked lips, to no avail.

*I finished Annie's jacket! :D I am so very pleased with myself. I may not be able to hold out until her birthday to give it to her! Partly because I want to be able to take a picture of her wearing it so I can show you. :P As an aside, her birthday falls on Easter again this year. Sort of hate that.

*****

*It's really freakin' amazing how many posts can accumulate in just a few short days, isn't it?!! I think I have finally come to the realization that if I can't read blogs for a few days in a row, I just have to use that "mark all as read" button. No more trying to catch up. No more feeling guilty. No more making excuses. Just click and start over. It sucks, but seriously, has anyone ever come up with a better answer?

*I picked up Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe at the library last week. Yep, thanks to Chris. :D I'm not very far in yet, but I'm really loving it already. Lots of little bits that just speak to me. Like this:

I got to thinking that poems were like people. Some people you got right off the bat. Some people you just didn't get--and never would get.

And this:

Words were different when they lived inside of you.

*I'm having such fun watching Max watch Ghostbusters. His eyes will open wide, and then he'll get this huge smile on his face. A few minutes later his eyes will widen again. He is so obviously enjoying this movie. Sounds pretty silly, I suppose, but it's just one of those many "Mom" moments that make all the gray hair worth it.

*Just because she's cute, said with no Mommy-bias whatsoever ;)

*I wish like heck that Gray would stop turning off tweetdeck whenever he uses my computer. Either that, or I wish I could remember to turn it back on more often.

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*So it's really looking like the purchase of this house is really going through. *knocks on every wood surface available* There are still a couple things up in the air...it's really just a total waiting game on our part. Anyway, I decided that I'd better get on with figuring out what I needed to do with the kiddos' schooling. So yesterday, I found the registrar's website and printed out all the forms I need to fill out to get Max registered for school. Sheesh--you'd think we were applying to get him security clearance instead of just registering him for school. :P

*Been watching a lot of great stuff for school in the past week. Gray and I finished up with the Strange Days on Planet Earth series last week by watching both "Dirty Secrets" and "Troubled Waters." All six episodes are really awesome, and I highly recommend them! Yesterday, we finished up with the three and a half hour PBS special Benjamin Franklin. History is not one of Gray's favorite subjects, but he thoroughly enjoyed this movie/documentary/mini-series/whatever (as did I). Annie and I watched Good Night, and Good Luck Sunday afternoon. (We started a course on U.S. history since 1945 which we'll be continuing through next fall semester. And while I do have a textbook I really like, we're really only using it as a guide and are doing most of our learning through non-textbook books and movies and documentaries.) On today's agenda, Gray and I are going to watch Gasland. This makes me so happy--I've only wanted to watch this movie for the past year now (and have literally had it out from Netflix since last June--yeah, I know, how many copies of the movie could I have actually bought for the price I've paid having it out from Netflix for so long...*sigh*).

And now I suppose I should call an end to this particular spewing of randomness, huh? But how about you tell me a bit of randomness in your life right now??? (Seriously, don't you just love getting comments where people tell you stuff about them? Always makes me happy...even if it does make me feel rather boring in comparison. :P )

you'd think I'd learn...

Not to assume, that is. How many freakin' times do I have to have my assumptions proved wrong before I quit making them in the first place?!!

This time around--I assumed I wouldn't like a particular movie. The Village. I remember when it first came out, and I wanted nothing to do with it. Well, Chris "assigned" me this movie for my happiness project. He was even so kind as to send me the movie! On top of all that, Annie had been dying to watch it. So on Friday night when Rich hauled the boys off to go ice skating, I decided the time had come. Annie and I had a mini girls' night. We popped it in...and much to my surprise, I was immediately taken with it. Slightly confused at first, but very intrigued. And wow. I totally ended up loving this movie!

Far-fetched? Maybe so, but I loved it anyway. :)

The only downside: Every time I see M. Night Shyamalan's name, I am reminded of the whitewashing of The Last Airbender. This still greatly saddens me. :(

Anyway, thank you so much, Chris!!! I really did know deep down that you wouldn't steer me wrong! :D God, I love this happiness project. :D

(Project progress: Happiness project, Chris's list of movies/TV shows, Item 32-The Village)

projects progress...a 50x50 update...

While I haven't written an update lately, I have been continuing to check things off the old 50 x 50, at least when I remember to. It's now been a little more than a year since I began, and when I look over my progress I think I'm fairly satisfied. Certainly some of the goals are coming along much more easily than others. I can't believe I have two which are at least halfway done now (goal #8--Donate 50 trunk-loads full of stuff to charity thrift store, etc. and goal #15--Try 50 new recipes). And there are several more that I'm at least a fifth of the way through (goal #10--Support 50 different independent local businesses, goal #16--Bake 50 different kinds of cookies, goal #18--Can/freeze/dry/otherwise preserve 50 different things, goal #30--Do 50 different environmentally friendly things, and #38--Read 50 books borrowed from someone else). Of course, these are balanced out by several goals that I haven't even begun yet. ;)

Yesterday saw me adding to a couple of goals. I managed to add two things to goal #22--Make 50 one-of-a-kind gifts. But truth is, one of them might have to come off sometime in the future. Yeah, this was not a well thought-out goal...because how can I always be sure that I won't eventually make "another" of something even if I don't have plans to at the moment. Oh well, for the time being, I added this chunky hat that I made to put in Annie's stocking:

Gray graciously offered to model it for me. I didn't realize he had this goofy face in mind, but who am I to complain--as I had no other model available at the time. :P But this is actually a hat I could see myself making again sometime. It was super quick to make (gotta love chunky yarn!) and I think it's a cute little hat. I used this free pattern but did make a few changes to it.









I also whipped up a dishcloth for my Mom's stocking, using a basket-weave stitch. Probably won't make another of these...I love a basket-weave stitch for a lot of things, but am not thrilled with for a dishcloth. Oh well, live and learn, huh?

Last night, I also managed to knock another off goal #11--Watch 50 documentaries. Though it might be considered cheating, as it's actually the third time I've watched this particular movie. (It's the first time I've watched it since starting the 50x50 so I've decided it's legit...and since it's my project, I make the rules, right? :P ) Anyway, I asked the boys if they wanted to watch a Christmas movie last night. They went to the movie cupboard, and came back with Food Inc. Yeah, not exactly a Christmas movie, but they both really wanted to watch it, and the rest of us had no objections to seeing it again so we went for it. I have to admit that I thought there was a possibility that the boys were going to tune out, but that definitely wasn't the case. Gray, especially, loved it!!! Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised though--Chew On This (Eric Schlosser's young people's version of Fast Food Nation) is one of his all-time favorite books. He was at times enthralled, disgusted, shocked, and inspired watching Food Inc. (Yeah, pretty much like me even during my third viewing.) We had to pause the movie multiple times, as he asked so many salient questions. And as an added bonus, he came away with a desire to actually help us in the garden next year. :)

Today should see me adding another check to goal #15--Try 50 new recipes. I'm going to try out a recipe for Ribbon Pumpkin Bread to take to my parents' tomorrow. If it's as divine as it sounds, I'll be sure to share the recipe. And in the meantime, I hope all of you celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow have a positively peaceful and relaxing holiday! And for those you not celebrating, I hope you have a damn fine day as well!