bright eyes + blue eyes

movie night

 

Well, I'm about to fold clothes & watch a bit of this movie. We probably won't make it through the whole thing (it's late), but that's okay because a of all it was free due to a redbox coupon code and b of all we've seen it before.

{Allison, how do you like my tribute to you?}

This movie is in my favorite genre. I don't really know what exactly to call this particular genre. I guess it would be action+suspense+drama. A really great plot is essential. Can't be just "pure action."

This happens to be Hunter's favorite genre as well, which works out mighty nicely.

Here are a few good ones which come to mind:

• Shawshank Redemption (1994, Morgan Freeman)
• The Fugitive (1993, Harrison Ford)
• Sneakers (1992, Robert Redford)
• The Game (1997, Michael Douglas)
• The Italian Job (2003, Ed Norton)
• Ocean's Eleven (2001, Everybody...ha ha, I guess I would say George Clooney)
• Bandits (2001, Cate Blanchett)
• Enemy of the State (1998, Will Smith)
• In the Line of Fire (1993, Clint Eastwood)
• Gladiator (2000, Russell Crowe)
• Bourne Ultimatum (2007, Matt Damon)
• Thomas Crown Affair (1999, Rene Russo)
• Inside Man (2006, Denzel Washington)
• Behind Enemy Lines (2001, Owen Wilson)

Anything I'm forgetting?

 

ladybug family

We made a ladybug family.

 

I was inspired by Angie's post -- Blonde Designs : Making Pet Rocks

You'll find all of the instructions & details in her blog post. Have fun making your new pets!

 

strawberry shortcake

This morning Pumpkin started telling me about the movie she watched yesterday when she was with her babysitter, Abbi.

She told me the entire plot, blow by blow, and it was the cutest thing ever. The girl has a gift for storytelling. I love all the expression in her eyes. (...Gets that from her daddy.)

I asked her to do a (more condensed) recap again so I could videotape her. Here it is; it's 5 minutes long. There's also a bit at the end about a cartoon Spiderman show.

 

 

plum district : 1yr subscription to family fun for $5

Our Family Fun subscription ran out a while back. I've been meaning to renew it.

This morning, I saw that Plum District is offering a 1yr subscription for a mere $5.

Bingo.

(Plum District is one of those Groupon copycats. "One deal per day" kind of thing.)

The not-so-great thing about Groupon/PlumDistrict is when you end up buying things you don't need just because of the reduced price.

The GREAT thing about Groupon/PlumDistrict is when you have been meaning to buy something anyway, and then you see it offered at a reduced price.

This Family Fun deal would also be a nice (and very budget friendly) gift.

Click on this link if you'd like to sign up for Plum District and view today's Family Fun subscription deal: 

Plum District

If you use that link, I think I get some sort of credit. Alternatively, you can just go to the Plum District website directly and look for the Family Fun deal.

Happy Saturday!

-abbie

 

sunshine

 

As long as I can remember, I've gravitated towards "natural" things.

For example, there was a little game I played as a little girl....it went something like this:

I challenged myself to try to fixate my gaze on a visual "snapshot" of the landscape. The only catch was that, within my snapshot, there could be no man-made element whatsoever. So, in other words, when we were driving to my grandmother's lakehouse, if I could look out my window and see ONLY trees and mountains, then I won the game. If I saw trees, mountains, and power lines, then I had to keep looking until I got to the "100% natural" landscape.

I don't know why I played that game. I have no memory of anyone ever saying to me, "Naturally occurring things are good. Man made things are baaaaad." I don't remember reading any books that gave me that impression. I have no idea where that propensity comes from. (Maybe we all have it? I've don't think I've ever asked anyone else.)

Still to this day, I'm very drawn to things that are naturally occurring. Personally, I find "naturally occurring beauty" to be incredibly more appealing than stuff that humans build/design/create.

As a tiny example of what I'm talking about, we have hydrangeas in our yard that were planted by the previous owner of our house. The first summer we lived here, when they began to bloom, I was overcome with how beautiful they are. Also, I'm amazed at the fact that they just GROW. I don't know how else to say it: they have roots in the ground, they interact with the sunshine, they perform photosynthesis, and then...at just the right time of year, they decide to inspire the world with their effortless, ethereal beauty.

 

Naturally occurring beauty is ALWAYS unique. There are no two trees alike...no two creekbeds that curve in just the same way.

Man-made stuff seems so "cloned" in comparison. Identical products, churned off the assembly line.

All that being said, every once in a while, I do see man-made stuff that appeals to me. For example, when I was visiting my sister in DC (2007), we visited lots of DC destinations. When we visited the Jefferson Monument, I was really drawn to the beauty of all the columns. Yes, the columns are all identical. But there's something about them and the way they are arranged that was very beautiful to me.

 

Here's a quick off-the-top-of-my-head list of some natural things that are beautiful. Each one is a little individual miracle: flowers, leaves, moss, trees, smooth rocks in the bed of a creek, clouds, sunrises, sunsets, mountains, snowy landscapes......

{sidenote: Yes, it's true. I take 88mcg of synthetic drugs each morning to achieve normal-range TSH levels. Without this tiny little "man-made" pill, my "naturally occurring" body would be attacking its own thyroid. Ha! So I realize how silly it is for me to throw the baby out with the bathwater and say that I ONLY love items that freely occur out in the woods somewhere! :-) I also happen to love hot showers (man-made) and my HVAC system (also man-made.) But, for the sake of this post, let's just put my Hashimoto's Disease and love of creature comforts on the shelf for a minute....I've still got to get to the part about how much I love sunshine.} 

And now I come to my main point.

For the last several years I've really struggled with this fact: Sunshine is on my "natural" list. But dermatologists say that soaking up the sun is a no-no.

I don't know how to reconcile these two parts of my brain. On the one hand, I realize that medical science tells us that too much exposure to the sun is not good for us. On the other hand, I have such a strong emotional inclination to LOVE the sun.

I like being out in the sun.

I like doing yard work in the sun.

I like relaxing on a raft at the lake in the sun.

I like building sandcastles in the sun.

I like reading in the sun.

I like feeling the warmth of the sun.

I'm grateful for the sun: human life would not exist without it. Plant life would not exist without it.

Our food sources are dependent upon the sun.

I like the glow on my skin after I've been in the sun.

I like watching my children play in the sun.

Sometimes a sun-kissed appearance makes a person more "healthy" looking to me. (Is that bad?)

I feel more healthy myself when I have a "sunny" glow.

Basically, on an emotional level, the sun is in that "natural" category of things that I love!

(disclaimer: I am a huge proponent of suncreen. I will avoid a sunburn at all costs. It's just common sense that sunburns are NOT good for the human body. They hurt. They obviously do damage to the skin. So I'm not talking about sunburns. Really, it's the "healthily aquired tan" that I can't figure out how to categorize. And is the term "healthily aquired tan" oxymoronic?)

About this time of year (January/February), I find myself longing for the sunshine! I start thinking about summer, beaches, pools, warmth, etc. This year I've really analyzed my sunshine cravings. Am I desiring something that's dangerous for my skin? for my children's skin? Is my admiration for the sun simply a conditioned response & an indicator of when/where I live? I remember reading about how people in the 17th c. viewed a tan as a negative thing....i.e., peasants who worked in the fields had a tan. Aristocrats did not want to have a tan. So am I just a product of my society?

If I had to guess, I'm sure the answer to my questions about the sunshine have something to do with that WORD that keeps coming up over and over in my life: BALANCE. A little sun is great. Tons of sun is not so great. So I guess I'll just try to strike that balance each summer as I enjoy the warm rays that emanate from my very favorite star in the Milky Way.

{and one more note about the sun: Does anyone else find it fascinating that the sun's UV rays have antiseptic qualities? Amazing. A big burning ball of hydrogen and helium, located about 150 million km from where I live, can kill germs on an object that I put out in my backyard. After I wash the cover on Izzy's dog bed, I usually stick it out in the sun for a while to finish the drying process. The end result is fresher & cleaner that it would be with a basic wash/dry. Thank you, Sun, for helping me out with stuff like this.}

 

TED : Patricia Kuhl : the linguistic genius of babies

One of my favorite things to read about & think about is language acquisition. It's one of those topics that just makes me marvel at how amazing our Creator is.

This TED video is about 10 minutes long. The speaker is Patricia Kuhl, who is a professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington. (cue Liz Lemon: I want to go to there. Studying "early language & brain development", and analyzing  "how young children learn"?? Yes, please.) Kuhl does a great job of summarizing some of the research findings she & her team have achieved in recent years.

It's really amazing to me how our body, soul, and spirit are so intertwined. Yes, the good Lord gave us physical beings (cell, tissue, organ), but he threaded those material blessings together with the immaterial. It's an astonishing miracle that He performs with every new life.

A few things that this video reinforces to me: Our brains are designed to interact with each other. A baby is designed to lock eyes with someone who loves him/her & absorb the beauty of that person's words. Life is designed to be lived in community. Words are designed to be shared with each other as our lives weave together.

{Sidenote: My mother is reading about Dietrich Bonhoeffer lately. The concept of "life together" comes to mind, Mom, when I watch this TED video.}

Kuhl touches on "audio/video learning" vs. "human interaction learning" at about 7 minutes into this video. That part of the video gave me goosebumps! So amazing. 

Patricia Kuhl: The linguistic Genius of Babies

* * * *

Related: Other TED talks that Ellie & I have enjoyed over the years:

Four Novels + a Non-fiction book

The Human Immune System is Amazing

Geckos

TED : Hans Rosling

TED : Stuart Brown

TED : Clifford Stoll

TED : Benjamin Zander

TED : Ken Robinson

Ellie + Abbie + TED {Ellie, I think I forgot to mention to you: Way back when you posted this link, I re-posted the same link on a Wendell Berry yahoo group message board. This talk elicited QUITE a reaction. Major objections. I know you'd love reading the responses as much as I did. I'll try to find them in the archives for you. Lots of food for thought.}

Do you have a favorite TED talk?

 

Sidewalk Rage

I just heard that researchers have come up with a test to measure sidewalk rage. I totally pass this test. A sad truth about my otherwise good-natured personality, I know… but at the same time, I’m kind of glad to know that there are others out there who think like me. When I am walking in the city, I am trying to get somewhere. I just don’t understand how so many other pedestrians can be so unaware and inconsiderate.

I experience true anger inside myself when people walk six-abreast on the sidewalk, allowing zero room for anyone else to pass. Sometimes I just want to shake the people who walk around with their faces buried in their cell phones; they are zombie hazards. I don’t yell at people, but I do send out glares, and I occasionally mutter about other pedestrians.

For further reading: WSJ’s article or NPR’s Health podcast about sidewalk rage (which included a comment about the out-of-control number of triple-wide strollers in Woodley Park - which I totally related to).

[The following picture is unrelated to sidewalk rage, but it does have to do with mobility, I guess. I bet people who use scooters have a lot of stories of frustration with other people’s sidewalk / in-store etiquette. This scooter was parked like this outside a Burger King. Does the way it’s parked make anyone else laugh?]

Direct Transfer

They say that going abroad makes you learn more about your home country than the one you’re visiting. I don’t know about that. You learn an awful lot about the new place. But I support the sentiment, generally. When you’re away from your own, familiar context, you observe all sorts of things that you never even thought about at home. You have to be pretty reflective when you confront something that’s done differently than “the way it’s always done”, or when you search your brain to find a comparison for “how we do that back home”.

In that vein of cross-cultural insights, I now have a bombshell to drop on you. America is missing out on direct transfers between personal banking accounts.

Wha?

I’ll give you an example. We have a parking space that comes with our flat. We don’t have a car and live in a very urban area, so we can get pretty good money from renting the space out. We just found a new renter, and here’s how he’ll pay the rent. We write out our our bank details and give them to him. He will set up a monthly direct transfer from his account to ours. This is just as safe as a check. The numbers we gave him are basically what is printed at the bottom of every check (bank code number and account number). It’s super easy, and no one has to worry about mailing or cashing checks. They also do direct transfers between private accounts in Germany. And between Germany and the Netherlands. I know this from personal experience.

I cannot figure out why in the world America, the land of financial innovation, does not do this.

And then I see this and I come to my senses a little bit:

And I think: who gives a flip about the finer points of trans-Atlantic personal banking – IT’S SPRINGTIME!

Power of Wheat (and Granola)

My bud, Mark Bittman, recently wrote about a bowl of disappointing, overly sweet granola. (Mark Bittman isn’t technically my bud, but I do love him, in that author/reader-kind-of-way.) Seeing his Brussels sprouts breakfast reminded me of Mom, for some reason. Eating Brussels sprouts in the morning sounds like something she would do – probably with brown rice.

Anyway, MaBit would be happy to know that I make a very nutty and marginally sweet version of his granola all the time. Granola is the most delicious, satisfying, filling breakfast. When I was making a fresh batch this weekend, I remembered the note from his post about using some molasses for the honey. I didn’t add the ginger as he suggested, but I loved the subtle depth of flavor that the molasses added to the granola.

I had molasses on hand. I bought some recently because I wanted to try something different on cream of wheat. I didn’t taste the molasses before I put it on the cream of wheat. I handed H his bowl, and he took a taste, then he asked very politely, “Did you put soy sauce in this?” The next time I made cream of wheat, I went back to the trusty brown sugar and butter topping.

I would also like to take a moment here to say how much I love living with someone who speaks English as a second language. Anyone who knows my husband knows that his English is perfect. However, he does make the cutest little mistakes every once in a while. I adore these little riffs on my language. For example, the blustery English winter has reminded me how much I love cream of wheat. When I made it for the first time in a long time, H gobbled it up and said that he had never had it before. A couple of Saturdays later, I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, and he asked me, “Do we have any more of that Power of Wheat?” Why, yes we do. And, by the way, Power of Wheat is a way better name than cream of wheat.

But I’m mixing up my breakfast food stories here. Back to the granola. Here’s my variation. The best thing about granola is that you can always tweak and fiddle around with the recipe.

Warm in a small saucepan on the stovetop:

a little bit less than ½ cup vegetable oil*

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup honey

Less than ¼ cup water

Mix together:

1 bag Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Scottish oats (about 7 or 8 cups)**

1 cup cashews

¼ cup flaxseeds

¼ cup pumpkin seeds

¼ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup sesame or poppy seeds

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch salt

 

Combine dry ingredients. Pour warm liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients. Scrunch up with your hands. Try to make sure that there are no patches that are left dry.

Bake at 350F (180C) for at least 30 minutes, stirring about every 10 or 15 minutes to ensure that you get lots of crunch.

*If you do the oil before each of the ¼ cups of honey and molasses, then the sticky ingredients will slip right out of the measuring cup. You could make the granola without the oil. But I think starting out the day with a little healthy fat is good for you and helps you stay full until lunch. So I like having the oil in there.

**I have found it surprisingly difficult to get proper rolled oats here. A lot of the oats that say rolled aren’t substantial enough for my liking. Jumbo or Scottish seem to be good keywords, though.

H doesn’t like raisins, but I do, so I add golden raisins to my bowl. We both like to add some bran flakes to the bowl sometimes. I find that the flakes give the granola a bit less of a dense ‘mouthfeel’ and give the bowl a little lift. It also stretches the life of the granola. I learned this trick using Corn Flakes in TZ. I make a double batch, usually, and it lasts us about 3 or 4 weeks, even though we both eat hearty bowls of granola every day of the week. Then we try to have something different on weekends. If you ask me, weekends just beg for a little breakfast variety – and Power of Wheat should definitely be in the mix.

take me out to the ballgame

 

photo from 2009 - Hunter and Superboy

Just signed up our son for another season of baseball. I'm excited! Should be interesting this year because I think it's 100% kid pitch. (Might be a sort of s-l-o-w-e-r pace....) Last year it was partially kid pitch, partially coach pitch.