Nobody Ever Said It Would Be Easy ...

Yeah, you know the rest. For some unknown reason, I never thought about how tough being a parent is before I was one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you hear the stories, but really, how hard can it be unless your kid is Hannibal Lecter? Well, I don't THINK either one of the girls is heading down that path (we do worry about the younger one, on occasion, though), it's not as easy as I thought it would be. You see, I'm kind of an uptight, worrywart. It's like if I don't worry, then I don't care enough, then everything is going to go to hell in a handbasket. So I worry so that things don't go haywire (yes, I know, my logic is not like your earth logic). Anyway, now I get to worry not just about myself, but everything in the kids' lives too. You see, despite the total lack of reality, I tend to think things have to go perfectly in their lives, that they should never suffer disappointment, or suffer at all for that matter (again, logic? No where near this post). So now I feel like if something doesn't work out, it's somehow my fault for not doing enough. Cracked, huh?

Maria Full of Grace

Hey, finally off the Harry Potter posts for a day. I've started "Satanic Verses" - got it years ago for 50 cents to see what the fuss was about and am only getting around to reading it now. I'll let you know what I think once I get a bit further into it.

Finally saw the movie "Maria Full of Grace" last night - or should I say, I saw part of it. It's been on my Netflix list for forever, and I figured I either needed to watch it or remove it from the list. There really should be an expiration date for movies on your list. Anyways, I put it on the list because it was supposed to be "good"- which, technically, it was. The writing was realistic, the pacing well done, the acting good for the most part. It's just I can't figure out why anyone in their right mind would want to watch it. Maybe it was because I was in a bad mood anyway, but watching a girl make one bad decision after another isn't exactly entertaining. I know, I know, what do you expect in a movie about a drug mule, but it was just painful watching. It seems as though the more depressing a movie, the better the reviews. Anyway, the moral of the story is if you decide to become a drug mule, don't steal the drugs from the dealer. Gee, glad I had a movie to tell me that, huh?

Truth in Harry Potter

Yeah, I'm not done talking about the book yet. As an offshoot of yesterday's conversation, the subject of Rita Skeeter came up. She's another character, who while ostensibly not on Voldemort's side, per se, has at the very least a greyish tint to her character. One of the more interesting things is the question, "Does Rita Skeeter lie?" Think about it. She may not tell the whole truth, and she make take things out of context, but does she ever out and out lie? Typically, she takes an actual incident (out of context) and then poses questions. Harry ran from Dumbledore's death scene (fact). Could there have been more to it? Was he somehow involved? I was struck by the fact that she did often tell the truth (kind of).

Which leads to a bigger question of truth in the book. Many people lie, or at least avoid telling the whole truth. Look at Dumbledore. Look at Snape. Did lying make them automatically evil? Did it work for the "greater good" or did it impede the greater good? How is lying portrayed in the book? It is always necessary for everyone to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? What would have happened had Harry known that he would survive Voldemort killing him? It might have made his actions less noble, but would it have changed the outcome?

Evil in Harry Potter

And no, I'm not talking about the "burn the book" kind of evil. I just finished the last Harry Potter book last night (well, actually, about 2am this morning - I had to finish it once I found out my daughter did. She's not exactly good at not letting plot points out, so if I wanted to be surprised, I kind of had to stay up and finish it). One thing that struck me was the interesting way JK deals with evil in her books. I mean, ok, you have Voldemort, Evil with a capital "E" right? But there are many levels of evil explored in the books when you look at it. What about Delores Umbridge? As far as we know, she wasn't knowingly in cahoots with Voldemort, right? So then, was she evil? I think she was, but a far more sinister, human type of evil ... just an evil, power-hungry, bitchy person. No, she didn't support the big Evil, but what she did to Harry and the non-purebloods could definitely be described as evil, little "e". Even within the people who did support big Evil, there were varying degrees of evil - for example, Bellatrix vs. Narcissa. Could you classify them both as categorically evil? Was one more evil than the other? Can evil be mitigated? And what about people who are basically shown as good who have their evil moments? What about X. Lovegood? Was he evil? Trying to turn Harry and his friends over to the Death Eaters was definitely evil, no matter how understandable his circumstances. And what about Ron walking out on Hermione and Harry? Wasn't that 'evil' given the circumstances? Even Dumbledore had his evil moments.

That's really what I like about the books - they are at one level, a rolicking good read. But at another, they really do explore big concepts without shying away from the uncomfortable aspects of the issue. I like that there is some subjectivity to the situations (another great example is Kreacher - was he ever really evil or merely responding to his circumstances). It makes them fun to discuss with the kids (even if it does drive them nuts).

Why?

Why is it that when I'm bumming about something that I desperately want to do something that is bad for me? I mean some people when they start stressing can't eat - me? If it doesn't move, well, ...

But why do I think this is going to make me feel better? Usually it just makes things worse cause now I have the added bonus of having overeaten added to whatever was bugging me in the first place. And if it isn't eating, why do I suddenly have an urge to go shopping? Like that's really going to help. *sigh* I guess it's just the urge to do something about the situation. But why can't it be something like running a marathon? Ugh.

This and That

Been awhile. I'm feeling a bit stressed about work, which means I pretty much stew about things rather than doing anything. Nothing new there. Anyways, been trying to read a bit more. Started a book called "From Eden to Exile" which is an archeological approach to the Old Testament. It's a bit irritating because the guy kind of starts from a viewpoint of the Old Testament is just a bunch of stories borrowed from other cultures, and obviously amateurs have no business saying anything about it. Which is kind of funny, considering one of the greatest scholars in this area (an English guy named Smith from the 1870's) was a rank amateur. Oh well, it's interesting, just wish he wouldn't spend so much time trying to discredit other folks and more time on what he wants to say. Like most of this type of research, I tend to fall in the middle - yes, I do believe in biblical teachings, but I think a lot of it has been misinterpreted and that folks need to explore for themselves. Bottom line, I want to hear the proof, but I also get tired of the oh-so-learned acting like you'd have to be an idiot to believe in the Bible.

Got caught up on some Supernaturals I taped over the weekend. I really do enjoy that show - it has a nice combination of suspense and family. Not to mention some very nice to look at leads. Can't wait to see what they do this fall.