The dreaded words....

...from my 19-year-old daughter tonight were, "Mom, you HAVE to see this movie." Now, I love it that she wants to share her interests with me but when its a move that she has deemed that I HAVE to see, I'm not allowed to do anything while the movie is on but sit on the couch, be quiet and watch the movie. She will go get a glass of wine for me if I ask, so that's nice. :)

The movie tonight was Garden State (http://www2.foxsearchlight.com/gardenstate/). I must say, it was AWESOME. If you want to see an offbeat movie with moments of comedy, tragedy and weirdness that really makes you feel, this is it. I highly recommend it.

Watched it with Amy and two of her friends tonight. I'll have to watch it again. It really was incredible. Go rent it NOW!!

It also has an incredible soundtrack. One of the themes of the movie is putting your fears aside to pursue something real, regardless of the emotional risk. The song "Let Go" by Frou Frou just captures that feeling--

drink up, baby down
mmm, are you in or are you out
leave your things behind
'cause it's all going off without you
excuse me, too busy you’re writing your tragedy
these mishaps
you bubble wrap
when you've no idea what you're like

so (let go) let go, jump in
oh well, whatcha waiting for
it's alright
'cause there's
beauty in the breakdown

so (let go) yeah, let go, just get in
oh, it's so amazing here
it's alright
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown

it gains the more it gives
and then it rises with the fall
so hand me that remote
can't you see that all that stuff's a sideshow
such boundless pleasure
we've no time for later now
you can't await your own arrival
you've 20 seconds to comply

The Tsunami

Its just unbeievable the death and destruction from the tsunami. My family is made up of news junkies who are also compassionate to a fault. Trying to understand the magnitude of loss and the science behind the tsunami has dominated our conversations of late. While out on the Deerfield Beach pier after dinner on Monday night, we watched the waves come in and tried to size the tsunami. It was windy and cold but we just stood there talking about how tsunamis are generated, how far inland the tsunami went and the emotion of standing on a beach and seeing the wall of water rushing toward you.

Some interesting facts--the largest tsunami ever recorded was in 1958 in Alaska. The wave was 1,700 feet tall! It was generated from a rock slide in a bay. Lituya Bay Tsunami

I would encourage everyone to donate to their relief agency of choice. The government shouldn't be expected to do it all and, as I learned on my trips to Haiti with Food For The Poor, government to government aid is riddled with corruption. If you don't know who you can trust, give money to www.worldvision.org. (Their site may be tough to get to due to the disaster response but keep trying.) Even $5 will help.

My co-worker from Food For The Poor went to work for them in 2002 and was communications director in Herat, Afghanistan beginning in August 2002. Her stories of their work and dedication were incredible.

And, one little bit of humor I've found in the news coverage is this caption on msnbc.com. Does this guy have the perfect name to be discussing a tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people?

Dec. 27: Waverly Person, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, says lives could have been saved after the earthquake in Asia if there had been a tsunami warning system in place.

Wow...

Last night (after I wrote the post below), as I was going to bed, my houseguest stopped me and said, "I won't see you tomorrow before I move out and I wanted to say Thank You for everything you've done. I really appreciate everything. Thank you for saving my life."

Regardless of how things turn out for him, I'm glad we were there to help when he needed someone.

I get my house and kid back

Tomorrow is going to be a GREAT day. My friend's 24-year-old schizophrenic son who has lived with us since the start of September is moving out to his own apartment. YEAH!!! I'm glad we were able to help him out and give him a chance to stop living on the streets, get into treatment and get on his feet. But...its been really hard having a non-family member live in the house. Thank God we had all those exchange students over the years or this would have been even more difficult.

And, not only does he move out tomorrow, but Amy comes home so our family is together again. I'm so psyched to have my litte ray of sunshine come home for a few weeks. It will be so much fun to go with her to see the Gators crush the evil scUM from University of Miami on New Year's Eve in Atlanta. Me, Amy and Skare together at a Gator football game on New Year's Eve. Its gonna be sooooooooo much fun.

The beginning of the end

Claire went to a friend's house yesterday at 1 for a sleep over. I was supposed to pick her up at 11 this morning but her friend wanted her to go to a carnival with them and , of course, I said, "SURE!" So, here it is, almost 5, the weekend is gone and I've spent from 8-1 on Saturday with my kid.

Remembering how it went with Amy, who was also a pretty sociable kid, it starts with the extended sleepovers, moves into trips to the mall, movies, dances, concerts, etc and the next thing you know, they're off at college.

The one thing that I have to hold on to is that Claire's friends prefer to come over here so I have some hope of spending time with her. :(

New favorite song

I've been listening to Damien Rice since his CD "O" was released last year but I missed the song, "Cannonball." Musically its pretty simple but it has some of the most well written lyrics I've heard in a long time. Damien's Web Site

There’s still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
There’s still a little bit of you laced with my doubt
It’s still a little hard to say what's going on

There’s still a little bit of your ghost your weakness
There’s still a little bit of your face i haven't kissed
You step a little closer each day
That i can’t say what's going on

Stones taught me to fly
Love, it taught me to lie
Life, it taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannonball

There’s still a little bit of your song in my ear
There’s still a little bit of your words I long to hear
You step a little closer to me
So close that I can't see what's going on

Stones taught me to fly
Love, it taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannon..
Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to cry
So come on courage
Teach me to be shy'
Cause it's not hard to fall
And I don't wanna scare her
It's not hard to fall
And I don't wanna lose
It's not hard to grow
When you know that you just don't know

The Is & Cs and Ps & Bs

Maybe its the moon phase but it sure seems like a healthy dose of incompetence has been infused into ALOT of people I work with. DB and I have both been griping about the " Is & Cs and Ps & Bs".

See if you can figure out the initials.

New Gator Coach

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO--the Gators hired Urban Meyer as the new football coach. I am so psyched. When I saw the news on Friday at work, I ran to my boss' office to tell her. Almost laid a Terry Tate on a co-worker. This guy looks like he'll be great for UF football.

Good story about his philosophy

Another Great Quote

Shopping malls are liquid TVs for the end of the twentieth century. A whole micro-circuitry of desire, ideology and expenditure for processed bodies drifting through the cyber-space of ultracapitalism.
--Arthur Kroker

Thanks to Bartleby for this thought-provoking quote

Exactly why I hate the malls. I think this quote is even more exceptional when you understand that the writer is Canadian. They're usually so average. Just ask Triumph the Comic Insult Dog!