Category Archives: Diversions

The stuff that didn’t fit elsewhere.

Striving to make our ordinary life a little bit extraordinary

06/29/2011 Nichole 2 Comments

"Blue Sky & Blossoms" by Andrew McFarlane — 'Blue Sky & Blossoms' by Andrew McFarlane

I’ve been trying to write a Type-A Parent Conference wrap-up post since Sunday afternoon, and I haven’t yet been able to “write my mind the way I want it to read.” I wanted to provide you with a rundown of the sessions* I attended and talk to you about the lovely people I met. But the words just haven’t been there.

I think it might be because I’ve been entirely fixated on one sentence:

“Reclaim what is absolutely extraordinary about everyday life.”

It was the first thing I jotted down during Patti Digh’s keynote speech, and I’ve been turning it over and over in my head ever since. I think I definitely embrace the ordinary here, but I don’t know that I’ve been going out of my way to make our every day — specifically, the kids’ days — extraordinary. I’d like them to have fabulous memories when they grow up. Memories that lead to the inevitable conclusion: “Our childhood was so wonderful. Our mom was the best, most wonderful, most Mary Poppinsish in her whimsy.” But that’s not going to happen while I’m busy folding laundry and (gasp!) checking Facebook.

So where am I going with this? I don’t know, exactly. Maybe a pledge to make our days more awesome? How does one go about creating whimsy? Probably by turning off the technology, for one thing. That seems like a counter-intuitive take-home message from a social media conference, but there you go. And it’s a good time for it, too. Rockford is on vacation next week, and we will be pursuing Relaxation and Fun and not much else.

This is not to say I’m breaking up with you, internet. That would never happen, because I love you too much. But I’m going to try to disconnect just a little, at least for a few days.

*Fadra wrote an excellent summary post of what she attended, and we went to many of the same sessions. Read “Fadra Went to the Type-A Parent Conference (and all i got was this lousy T-shirt)” for a very good wrap-up.

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“Cars 2” is a clunker

06/25/2011 Nichole 4 Comments

The good news is, “Wall-E” no longer bears the shame of being my least-favorite Pixar movie. The bad news? The overly glitzy “Cars 2” has taken its place.

I know there are a lot of people who didn’t like the original “Cars” movie, but I thought it was a lot of fun. It was also the first movie Poppy ever watched, so Lightning McQueen and the gang will always have a special place in my heart.

Even so, I was a little concerned when I heard they were making a sequel to “Cars,” because I couldn’t fathom where they might take the characters and the story. Not that I’m an expert at that sort of thing, but “Toy Story” at least had Andy’s growing up as a ladder on which to build. “Cars” had … ummmm … another racing season? In which McQueen mentors an arrogant up-and-comer? It’s a good thing I’m not in charge, because that would’ve been lame.

But the Pixar actually did make was almost as bad. They turned “Cars” into a James Bond tribute, and the result feels like a direct-to-video release. One of those awful things that have nothing in common with the original save a few characters and a company’s yearning for more dollars (See: “The Return of Jafar“). Except that instead of renting this, I paid a ridiculous amount of money to see it in the theater.

“Cars 2” did have a few laughs here and there, but it was lacking that Pixar warmth that makes their movies so special. (Well, most of them.) I was already having my doubts about “Monsters U.” I’m hoping “Cars 2” isn’t a hint of things to come.

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