May 21, 2006

• Is It Really Summer Yet?

  Well, I’ve had a full week of “summer vacation”–rain, gloom, and sleepiness.  I am hopeful that this week will see the return of a bit of sunshine and some of my energy.  I’ve got so many things I want to do, not just things I SHOULD do or HAVE to do, but things I really want to do.  But, this past week, I’d not had the time, interest, or motivation to pursue anything. I must have been really “burnt out” from the school year, or at least from the past month or so, and needed some time to recover.  Or, maybe I’m just turning lazy. 

  This past Friday, I took Nathan and some other teens to a state-wide competition called Talents for Christ.  Teens compete in Bible quizzing (had to memorize the first ten chapters of Hebrews in the KJV or part of it), Bible knowledge (on those chapters), instrument playing, singing, public speaking, writing, puppetry, etc.  Nathan took second in male voice and first in brass.  Yes, there were no other junior high brass competitors, but still, he did a great job! It was fun to watch the teens compete and to see how very gifted they are.

  While I was gone, the good doctor had a productive time holding down the fort.  Even though I left him with no “honey-do list,” he managed to fix all the downspouts, do some pool landscaping, tidy both floors of the house, and do all the dishes. I know I’m forgetting some things that he did…

  I believe I’m going to start reading Jane Eyre tonight.  It’s been too many years since I read it last, and it keeps popping up in my life.  (A friend’s letter, a book I’m reading,  and so on.)  I was reading Meg Cabot’s books (Princess Diaries et al), but I need a break from teenage girl angst.  Six books in a row was all I could handle.

  James and I watched the new Gwyneth Paltrow movie Proof the other night.  If you saw Paltrow in Possession, you’ve got an idea of how this movie is–academic setting, mildly interesting, and mostly boring.  Proof is the story of some made-up, famous mathematician’s daughter.  He is dead, but he appears in the movie often enough as a part of her imagination or in flashbacks.  He’s a likeable crazy person, and she’s difficult to like.  One feels sorry for her but wishes she’d move on with life and have a purpose. 

  The climax of the movie is when Paltrow shows a notebook to a good-looking grad student (with whom she’s had a fling). The book contains an amazing proof of some math thing.  But, who wrote it?  The crazy, now-dead father or Paltrow herself? 

  If you are in the mood for a ho-hum movie which examines the relationships between father and daughter and sister to sister and crazy people, then Proof is for you.  If you are in the mood for action, adventure, and lots of romance, look elsewhere.   Then, when you find a good movie, let me know about it, too!

  Ick. TGD just called to me that the low tonight is 36 degrees (and tomorrow’s high is in the mid-50s).  Thirty-six is too close to freezing to risk leaving my seedlings outside. Time to move the plants. Ah, Pennsylvania…
  

  • 8:19 pm
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