Pet Peeve Case File no. 1

I have worn glasses since I was 9 years old. I've gone through the whole contact lenses phase, but I always come home to my glasses. I am finally at a point in my life that I think my face looks empty without them. They are part of my face, of who I am. 

So nothing gets me more annoyed then this newish "fad" of people wearing glasses *WITHOUT LENSES* as an accessory. Drives me up the walls, yell at the television, wanting to bitch slap the person causing the offense. To all of you who are doing this, you look like a tit. If you want to wear the glasses and play a bit of dress up, at least please wear some lenses. 

*I don't know why I felt the need to start a list of my pet peeves, but hey, it's my blog, do what I want! 

Missing school and smoking in films....

I came across this article today online, which initially I thought was going to be about rebooting the current ratings system in the US, but instead was largely about characters smoking in movies ( This Article is Not Yet Rated ). First off, it made me miss being in school like crazy. This is just the sort of article I would HAVE to get into a paper somewhere, or devise writing an article further exploring the argument itself. 

And like all things currently, I have to make it tie back to our impending parent-dom, and what kind of parent am I going to be in letting our kids watch this or that. Because the article itself is so devoted to the argument of smoking, let's start there.

I can honestly say, I don't think I know anyone who would admit to smoking because they thought it looked cool in movies. Sure, when we were little we all mimed it (you know you did!), but when it came to actually trying a cigarette for the first time, all I could think about it how horrid it smelt and I couldn't wait to get the stink off my fingers. Now when I was 22 I did start smoking, but that was more an extension to drinking, and when the drinking dried up, so did my smoking habit. 

I can recall as a youngster being taken to 3 different rated-R movies at the cinema by my Mom. 

1. The Good Son

2. Ransom

3. The Birdcage

Apparently thrillers and gay comedies were a-okay in her book (and God love her for it!). But I remember being forbidden to watch Natural Born Killers, even tho I wanted to watch it more than anything. Eventually it came on cable and instead of sneaking and watching, I went into her bathroom where she was getting dressed, told her it was on, and I was going to go ahead and watch it. Honesty was always the way to go in our house, and I know I probably would have been grounded if she walked in and saw me watching it instead. 

BUT BACK TO MY POINT.....

If all the smoking in movies now are relegated to R-rated films, and assuming it just the baddies and rebels lighting up now, does it make it less of a threat when your 13 year old is offered their first cigarette? Will they sit and think "Well, I never see Jennifer Aniston lighting up in movies, and she's my favorite actress, so I think I'm going to give a pass". Um, no....not reality. 

Why is smoking suddenly so dangerous that it's rarely seen or spoken about in films today? Yet guns and violence are still okay? Whatever happened to just common sense? If I want my kids to see this, I'll let them watch it, and if I don't, I won't let them. And honestly, they're going to get to an age where if they really want to watch it, they are going to. (That's a whole nuther story about me and A Clockwork Orange right there...). 

This is hardly a very concise argument or train of thought, but....I am slightly worried that we're going to be seeing that closing clip from Thank You For Smoking a reality. You know, the one where old movies with smoking are digitally re-mastered and altered to remove cigarettes. Bette Davis without her smoke curls? No thank you.....

SHAAAAZAAAAMMMMM!!!

We're growing, We're showing.....

*I took this at 23 weeks. I'm 24 now. Gonna have to take a new picture soon. 

Contemplating the insane?

  Well boys and girls (but I'm assuming girls), I have become increasingly irritated  at the lack of variety of quilts for baby cribs here in the UK. I found a LOVELY bedding set on the Target website, but was frustrated to find the 4x5 inch discrepancy between US and UK cribs. 

There is just NOT a lot of selection here, especially if you are not finding out the sex of the baby (which we're not). The only thing I have found are a boring boring creme, with boring boring cartoon characters on them. Not my cup of tea at all. I want vibrant fun colors!

Here is where insanity has kicked in....

...I think I'm going to make my own quilt. 

Bear in mind I have extremely limited sewing skills, but I do have a sewing machine and I do have a book and most importantly, determination that my baby will have something beautiful and colorful and fun. So if anything, this blog might get mildly interesting as my baby quilting exploits begin. Today was my last day of volunteering, so I'm officially on housewife-mode till baby comes this May. Might as well get a good project done!!! Let's see what happens!!!

Bumble Love at 22.5 weeks

I can not wait for our baby to get here. Last night I had 2 dreams of our little one, and oh the disappointment waking up knowing s/he wasn't here yet! I know the time is passing quickly, and I shouldn't be wishing time away....But I can't wait!!!! Goodness....I should go clean the kitchen or something.  I have a brownie cake to be baking for Griff's birthday anyways...

Florence and the Machine

I am loving this song.

Book List 2009

For several years, I have kept my book list. I write down every book I read during the year and try and read more than I did the year before. I didn't beat last year, and I know for damn sure that I won't be setting any record in 2010 with little Bumble coming (are reading baby books going to count? Because I know I will be reading a lot to baby....haha).

Anyways, I used to use my listography account for all sorts of lists, now it's really just to keep up with my book list. So here it is, my 2009 book list.

1. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
2. Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley
3. Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult
4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
5. The Watchmen by Alan Moore
6. The Meaning of Wife: A provocative look at marriage in the twenty-first century by Anne Kingston
7. Easter Parade by Richard Yates.
8. The Southern Haunting of Truman Capote by Marie Rudisill with James C. Simmons.
9. Elephants on Acid and other Bizarre Experiments by Alex Boese
10. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
11. Hard Bodies by Susan Jeffords****
12. Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
13. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
14. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
15. The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
16. The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
17. The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson
18. Silk by Alessandro Baricco
19. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
20. Blubber by Judy Blume
21. Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live by Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller
22. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
23. One for the Money (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich
24. Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi by Bob Woodward
25. Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris
26. Batman: The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker (graphic novel)
27. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
28. Two for the Dough (Stephanie Plum series) by Janet Evanovich
29. The Fog by James Herbert
30. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Haff
31. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
32. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
33. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
34. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I had set a goal to read all of the Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes before the New Year, and I did not meet that goal, but I am a little relived. Holmes really needs to be something you pick up here and there and enjoy a story and put it down until you want to enjoy another. Too much back to back and all the stories start to bleed into one another.

I also found a few new favorites. Flowers for Algernon absolutely broke my heart and I loved it for each page of it. It's probably been the one I have suggested to many people after ready. I also loved both Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Graveyard Book. 

Some of the bigger disappointments were:

•  Elephants on Acid -interesting little stories, but not well written
  
• Stephanie Plum mystery books- I read 2 of the them, and I just didn't find them very entertaining or funny; which was sad because 2 friends who's opinions I value highly really enjoy them! 
  
• The Alchemist- just a bit too up itself for my pleasure
• The Southern Haunting of Truman Capote

I also re-read The Scarlet Letter, which I hadn't read since high school. I reconfirmed my belief that we rarely enjoy what we are given to read in high school and should just seek out the good reading when we're older. I thoroughly enjoyed that book and have added it to my favorites as well. 

Overall, a good year of reading I think. 

****This is not some bizarr-o work out book about having a hard body. It's about 80's masculinity portrayed in cinema, specifically Stallone and Ah-nold. I read it for school and it was fantastic. I just felt the need to clarify that before you start thinking I'm going to try and beef up (as if!!! lol!!!)