Sometimes Good Things Can Happen

I spent a fair bit of time bemoaning the fact I couldn't see The King's Speech because of an R-rating due to a scene of repeated profanity ostensibly used to loosen the King up during therapy. Well, it turns out the powers that be re-edited it, muted the profanity, and resubmitted it for a new rating. Ta-da - The LA Times is saying the re-edit got a PG-13 rating and will be re-released soon. Good times. See you Colin Firth fans at the theater!

A Random Collection Of Thoughts On This Notorious 'Holiday'

My distaste for Valentine's Day started long ago when I was forced to endure decorations that assumed that pink and red matched, when in reality they clash rather horribly. Especially the bubble gum pink that was all the rage in my childhood known as 'the 80s.' Also, I hated being forced to give Valentine's to everyone and rather wished we didn't have to give them at all. If they are forced they mean less than nothing and are, therefore, worth nothing. Which is a long way of saying Valentine's Day and I parted ways in elementary school. There are a few good things about it, like all the 50%-off chocolate in grocery stores on the 15th and those candy hearts that taste like sweetened Pepto Bismol. I also thoroughly enjoyed the tradition my roommates and I started in which we dressed in black, wore black nail polish and loads of eyeliner and then went to class at BYU. Watching everyone silently freak out and put on their I'm-totally-not-judging-you-but-you-are-a-total-freak face was fantastic. Good times.

Not good times: the combination of middle schoolers, cheap candy, and a day devoted to hormones. Seriously a crazy day. It was much harder to refrain from flicking them in the nose like disobedient puppies than it usually is. I feel that we should just observe President's Day on the 14th of February every year instead of try to hold classes. It would make everyone's lives (except possibly parents' lives) easier.

As I have stated in many past posts, I have a decades-long addiction to fashion magazines. That I am a fan of the website Go Fug Yourself should be no surprise, as the women in charge are witty and charming. A few years ago they started attending and blogging about spring Fashion Week. Always amusing, just gossipy enough, and an interesting preview of what I'll find in my InStyle next month, I look forward to their excursions into the world of fashion. While I don't always agree with their assessments of outfits, I do share their undying admiration of Victoria Beckham. The more I read about her (and I really want to get ahold of her books someday) or see her in interviews the more I like her. Her designs are equally likable. Most fashion seems impossible off the runway, especially if you are not built like emaciated gazelle, but when you look at her collections, one can imagine that the dresses she designs could be a) worn in real life off the runway and 2) worn by normal-sized women. Which makes her aces in my book.

Finally, if you haven't yet seen the movie RED, go do that. Tonight. Not because it is an excellent movie or is in any way important. See it because it is a ridiculous movie and it knows it and it revels in it. Which made me giggle. Also, Helen Mirren is fantastic. And I personally believe that Karl Urban decided his character had decided his entire work persona would be an impersonation of Brad Pitt. Enjoy!

It Hardly Seems Fair

I've been gone for a long time, which I assume means no one is reading this anymore. My absence has mostly been due to the insanity that is student teaching, as I was very, very busy. Also, I haven't figured out how to talk/write about my experiences in a way that I feel protects everyone involved. Although I will say that every single night (and sometimes during my naps) I have had a dream about the school and the students I worked with, which is completely annoying. It feels like I'm at work when I sleep and I wake up all fuzzy and uncertain about what I should be doing. Anyway, still processing the whole student teaching experience. Love teaching, not sure what to say about it. But that isn't what I really want to discuss.

What I really want to do is whine. Intellectually, I know that life is hard, the struggle is integral to our growth, yada. But that doesn't make it easy. And, frankly, I feel that what my family went through with my mom should preclude us from any more suffering. Again, intellectually I understand that isn't how the world works, but it doesn't stop me from throwing an internal temper tantrum when I find out my 2 and 1/2 year-old niece might have to have open-heart surgery. Because of who I am, I generally only imagine worst-case scenarios and nothing about the words 'open,' 'heart,' and 'surgery' inspire much confidence in best-case scenarios. So, yes, it hardly seems fair that my adorable little niece might have to have major surgery. We shouldn't have to go through this again.


Edited to Add: My niece has Atrial Septal Defect, which isn't uncommon and is fairly routine as pediatric heart conditions go. Her hole is pretty big, which means catheterization might be off the table, hence open-heart surgery.