Mosaic Life

My sweetie’s getting older

It’s Brandon’s birthday again - this time he’s reached a whopping 27 years of age. We’re planning on spending the day being lazy, since it’s the first time in weeks that he’s been able to do so, what with the stress of the end of the semester.

So happy birthday, Brandon. I look forward to seeing you get much older than this.

Other than you, of course

Things I like right now.

The following Decemberists songs: “Here I dreamt I was an Architect,” “July, July!,” and “Yankee Bayonet.” And I like the Decemberists in general. The lyrics, they’re like the musical equivalent of a Flannery O’Connor story; while O’Connor sets you up to think that the story is normal and then gives you a disturbing ending, the Decemberists make their music sound upbeat and happy, though the subject matter (upon listening closely to the lyrics) turns out to be… Well, often the opposite. So you see the resemblance!

Jell-o. Seriously, is there a more refreshing dessert? A cheaper, more jiggly dessert? One for which there is always room? Of course not. Jell-o rules the gelatin desserts!

Cheap nachos with mustard. Yum!

Locking my car doors when well-to-do pedestrians are passing by. Funny!

White Ninja comics like this one. Oh, and this one.

Lost

Every Wednesday night we join a small group of friends and watch Lost. The whole group has seen all the episodes, we’ve all overanalyzed each episode, we’ve all got our theories about what will happen next. Last night a couple joined us who knew nothing of the show. Nothing. Hadn’t seen a single episode. So we attempted to give them a crash course during the commercial breaks. It went something like this:

The group: So the people on the island were in a plane crash and all these supernatural things started happening to them… Polar bears… Black smoke… Oh, and they were being kidnapped by the Others.

The couple: The others? Were the others on the plane?

TG: No, they were already there because… Well, nothing is certain on this show, but from what we know, they were trying to form this utopian society.

TC: Why can that guy see into the future?

TG: Oh, he’s been able to see into the future since they stopped pushing the button and there was this magnetic field explosion sort of thing…

TC: ?

TG: Oh! And that blond girl is an Other, but she’s acting like the Others rejected her to gain their trust because that’s what the leader of the Others told her to do. Only we don’t know why she’d do that, because she’s been screwed over by the Others, too. Maybe they’re still promising her that they’ll let her go home. And she’s a fertility doctor, and women who have babies on the island die.

TC: So the others can go home?

TG: Well they could, but then that magnetic explosion thingy happened, and some guys in Antarctica picked it up on their sensors, and since then they haven’t been able to get back. Oh, and John exploded the submarine.

TC: ?

TG: Oh, and that guy is Sawyer. He’s the island stud horse.

The couple then decides that they aren’t so much into Lost. Either that or they were just plain lost. Probably both.

It’s Not in the Dictionary

I guess I’m sort of gullible. A while back, a friend told me that March of the Penguins was rated R. I believed him only because I didn’t think it would be all that funny to lie about that sort of thing, so why would he? Then I tried to figure out how on earth a movie about penguins could be rated R. What could happen to earn that rating?

A bunch of potty language? I mean, penguins seem peaceful and cute and all, but I’m sure that getting eaten by a polar bear or a seal or something would cause some considerably strong language. And you know how penguins mate for life? Well I’m sure some male penguin would feel mighty betrayed if his mate cheated on him while he was sitting on her eggs. The nerve, you know? I’d cuss her out, too.

Nudity? Hmm. Wasn’t this film made by the French? They love them some nudity. Maybe they snuck some really cold naked people in the background or something.

Violence? Yeah, maybe. Getting eaten by a polar bear is probably quite gruesome. And since the snow is white and the penguins are white and black, the contrast of the blood would probably make it seem even worse.

All that to say that the thought of March of the Penguins being rated R struck me as very unfair. Imagine all the disappointed children who’d like to see yet another movie about penguins only to be told that they aren’t old enough. And who thought there would be an audience for a rated R penguin movie?

I could have saved myself a lot of thinking time if I’d just searched IMDB. Lesson learned.

Introducing The Cutest Puppy Ever

This is my dad’s new dog Stormy; certifiably The Cutest Puppy Ever. Look how big his paws are! And with what cuteness he hides beneath the table! I’m not a dog person, but this little beast totally warms my icy heart.

He’s cuddly like a teddy bear, he bites a lot, and he’s fond of napping.

We have a lot in common.

Going to the Country

We’re heading to southern Alabama for the weekend. And since I broke the Nissan, we’re renting a car to drive. Guess what kind of car Enterprise Rent-a-car gave us? A Nissan Sentra! Just like our car, except newer, and a different color (black). Why is that exciting? Well it’s not, really. It’s just that we feared they might give us a Ford Taurus, and that would cramp our style. So we were relieved to find that that wasn’t the case. Nothing is cooler than a Sentra.

Have a great weekend and I’m sure I’ll have pictures for you on Monday. My dad has a yellow lab puppy now, and I’m sure the puppy needs to be photographed heavily.

You’ll Understand When You Have Kids

I hear this fairly often when I’m around people from my church, because as I mentioned in a post a few months ago, there is a baby-making epidemic going on (every woman has a baby on their hip or a bump on their belly). Which is great, I’m not against children and I think procreating is wonderful and children are a blessing and soforth.

Often when people say “you’ll understand when you have kids,” it just seems patronizing:
“You enjoy sleeping in while you can. When you have kids, you’ll be up at 7 am every day.”
“Just wait til you have kids - you won’t be going to restaurants for a long time!”
“When you have kids, everything will suck but it will be so worth it.”

Okay, that last one wasn’t real. But you get the point.

Here’s a pet peeve of mine, though. The way that some parents act like you know NOTHING of empathy, love, and sacrifice until you have children. I’m sure that having a baby changes so much of who you are - your life completely changes forever, you love that child more than you ever imagined possible, you would do anything for that child, etc. And I’m sure it’s true. But don’t invalidate the experiences of those who don’t have children.

Here’s an example. We were with a group, and we were talking about this particularly heartbreaking incident where a father was in a serious accident and his children witnessed it. One person said, “You guys who don’t have children have no idea how painful it would be to know your children had to go through that, that they had to experience that sort of trauma, to not be able to protect them from that.”

That was like a punch in the gut for me. We know loss. And I wondered if the person who said that ever considered the possibility that we had experienced something similar from the other side of the situation.

Yeah, I’m sure we’ll learn so much when we do have kids. I’m sure I’ll be calling my mom and apologizing for everything I ever said to her from ages 12 to 18. I’m sure we’ll be blown away by the whole parenting experience. But our experiences, our times of joy and sadness, our understanding of sacrifice and unchanging love - that’s all still very valid.

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a great Sunday. We went to church, went to Ikea, and then made an all-day project out of fixing clogged windshield fluid squirter-thingies. Oh, and we cleaned up the old Honda. Good times.

So whether you celebrate Christ’s resurrection or the coming of the Easter bunny (CANDY!), I hope you had a nice holiday.

A Conversation, Part 2

*Scott’s gtalk status: I just love that there are so many things to love.

scott.schultz: “wendy is online.” Your status message makes you sound like a very boring person.

scott.schultz:

*I change my status: wendy is hip and happening.

Old Wives and Weather

My mom said that there is an old wives’ tale that there is always a cold front right before Easter. The old wives were right this year; the high tomorrow is 59, about 10 degrees below normal for this time of year.

I’m thinking that this is Mother Earth’s way of making amends for giving us 80+ degree temperatures before April. I guess I’ll accept the gesture.