Scenes From a Marriage: Christmastime 2004

Emily: I got your present this morning. You're really going to like it!

Nate: Hmmm...I think I already know what it is.

Emily: Really?

Nate: U2's Vertigo CD

Emily: How did you know!?

Nate: Um, you've been singing it All. Day. Long.

Oversensitive?

I'm currently teaching one of my online Old Testament classes. Usually, they run pretty smoothly, but every time I log-on to monitor class discussion, I hold my breath. We've had some pretty crazy stuff happen; I've had to jump in for racism, misogyny, and well, calling your classmate, "stupid" isn't acceptable either.

This week, we were talking about Abraham, so as an exercise in hermeneutics, I had my students compare the Judeo-Christian version of Abraham sacrificing his son with the Muslim version of the same story. Primary differences? Ishmael is the son in the Koran's version, and he's involved in the decision. Adds a whole new set of dynamics.

So, when I read the opening comment, "This is really interesting! It almost makes them seem human..." I felt my heart sink--did she really just say that about Muslims?

She meant Abraham and Ishmael, and then, everyone in the class went on to say how much they liked having the added perspective. Yay!

In that vein, enjoy this video my cousin-in-law sent me.

Why I Love Arizona (even when it's 110+degrees)

My mom took me to this cute little French pastry shop last week. Luke and I split a delightful goat cheese and spinach omelette, but I was very tempted by the grilled brie sandwich. All the entrees come with a tasty spring mix side salad and delicious house dressing, like a sweet (but not too sweet) balsamic vinegrette.

It also has the prettiest desserts I've ever seen. The fruit desserts looked so good, I almost went for one (lemon tart, rasberry/lychee glass, perhaps?). But, then, I came to my senses and ordered a lovely dark chocolate tart.

That trip made me want to be a pastry chef.

Oh wait, I forgot--I'm a horrible baker.

Rockin' Out

When I had kids, I pictured us all listening to Pete Seeger, Cat Stevens, or at the very least, some Disney classics. Then again, I also pictured us never watching TV, making arts and crafts together, and eating fruits and vegetables with every meal, so this isn't the first bubble to pop.



Anyway, my kids prefer Billy Idol (courtesy of my mom buying Flushed Away--a darn good movie and an even better soundtrack). So, here are the boys rockin' out with their new haircuts. The video is 40 seconds of silly dancing. Then, they both leave, as if on cue. I'm not sure what happened there.

And, here's Asher singing "Mr. Lonely."


The slugs sing it, too, and they annunciate a little better.

A New Cousin!

We got a new baby niece, and I got to be in the delivery room (it is so much fun to watch a baby being born than being the one bearing the baby).

Doesn't Cora have the best head of hair?

She's lucky to have a big brother who will watch out for her.

WallE Success and the Trickery of Disney

For the 4th of July, the Harris-Curtis cousins (we LOVE them--I need to get pictures so I can sing their praises in a post) and our family saw Wall-E. I went into the theatre with my usual sinking feeling--neither of our kids has made it through an entire movie in a theater, and we've been fortunate to discover AMC has a generous refund policy for such disasters.

But, Asher was mezmerized by Wall-E. When we had to change a poopy diaper during it, he had me run out to change the diaper and run back in. He keeps asking about his friend, Wall-E. Every time we get in the car, he hopes it's to go see Wall-E.

Nate, on the other hand, isn't a fan of the movie. He can't get over the irony that Disney, one of the giant trans-national corporations of the world, has made a movie about a giant trans-national corporation that takes over the world and then destroys it with garbage.

I wasn't as annoyed since I knew the plot beforehand. The irony hit me, eventually--when I went to iTunes to download the Michael Crawford song that Wall-E (and Asher and I) loves. But, the Michael Crawford song (have I mentioned that I was a member of the Michael Crawford fan club when I was 14?) is only available if you download the whole Wall-E album.

Tricky Broadway-musical-loving-me thought I would outsmart Big Brother. So, I went to download the song off the Hello, Dolly soundtrack, which is another Disney production (surprise).

But, well, Disney didn't get to be Disney without cunning and ingenuity. And, they must have known there were cheapskates like me, so I had to buy the whole album there, too.

Just for one cute little 3 minute song. (an update: I've had this post sitting in my draft section since July 6th. Asher has made me listen to it about a bazillion times. I don't think it's a cute little 3 minute song anymore)

So, Disney makes this movie about people consuming too much, being wasteful and careless all because of the evil BnL corporation that forces their products into humanity's unsuspecting hands. And then, instead of letting me pay $.99 for the one song I want, I have to pay $9.99 for one song and a bunch of crap I'll never listen to (another update: I have been caught belting out a little Barbara Streisand once) (maybe twice) (ok, every night as I make dinner)*.

In college, some friends and I went to Disneyland. Snotty kids that we were, we would yell "Destruction of illusion!" every time we saw something broken or worn out on a ride (I know, you wish you were such a cool teenager, too)*.

Well, "Destruction of illusion" indeed.

*Like the ()'s? Stole it from Heather O. (a fabulous writer w/o the parenthetical comments, btw), who stole it from Sue. Wish I could write like they do. (who knew blogging could make me jealous of people I don't even know?)