Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Iron Lady, indeed.

I had a Movie Date with a GF yesterday, and we went to see Iron Lady, about Margaret Thatcher.

I'd read some mixed reviews -- some didn't like the films' direction, some thought it concentrated too hard on the Baroness' mental problems in her old age, but all agreed that Meryl Streep is amazing.... and she is.

Personally, I liked the directors' vision for the whole film, and came away with a slightly better sense of the person behind that steely persona we all saw on the tv.

MT was a formidable woman, with faults and foibles, but a woman with guts, real courage, a cohesive vision for her country and the absolute determination to see it through.

Such a far cry from the woman currently in office in Australia.

A quote from the movie, attributed to MT:

It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone.

And here's a trailer


We both really enjoyed this movie; it was a fascinating look at the woman behind the legend, and the politics behind her leadership.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Having felt BLUH for -- ohhh, weeks now -- I'm just gonna put up some stuff that makes me laugh.

Feel free to join in.





Monday, March 26, 2012

achievements

I've not done much today, considering how busy I've been!!

I did some grocery shopping, and called in to the travel agency to pick up brochures, got two craft projects out the way that need to be sent this week, made a movie date with a friend to see Iron Lady, got my grandsons' birthday presents organised, planned dinner, and cleaned up the hideous mess I made while completing two craft projects.

And now it's nearly time to go collect the kiddies.

The house is a mess but we have food. I guess they'll be happy with that.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

fresh horse pictures

That may have been mis-leading. I don't have any pictures of horses, fresh or otherwise.

But I do have these.


Daddy/daughter time.


Boy, crabbing.


Driveway Drinks with the neighbours. On the beach

Neigh.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Oh, dear...

Dear Man in the Cinema,

if you MUST comment loudly and offer your opinions all the way through the film, could you at least think of something original, or witty, or at least interesting, to say? Being loud AND banal wins you no friends at the movies.

Trust me on this.

***

Dear friends,

do not spend half your childrens' inheritance on a trip to the cinema to see John Carter. Wait till it comes out on DVD, and don't see it then, either.

***

Saturday, March 10, 2012

where are my words when I need them?

Thinking about words.

Today, Eden asks
If you were invited to a birthday party and the party-thrower had an open mic ready for you to say some of your favourite words, which ones would you choose?

Being totally egocentric, I started by thinking of words for me.

My favourite 'life' quote?
Life's too short to eat brown bananas.

My favourite poem?
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
eecummings

an amazing TV quote?

Then I re-read Edens' post. NOT about me.

So, Eden, this is for you. I don't know if you like Coldplay but today these lyrics seem to fit.

Happy birthday.

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
So she ran away in her sleep
Dreamed of para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Every time she closed her eyes

When she was just a girl
She expected the world
But it flew away from her reach
And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on
It gets so heavy
The wheel breaks the butterfly
Every tear, a waterfall
In the night, the stormy night
She closed her eyes
In the night, the stormy night
Away she'd fly.

And dreamed of para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise

She dreamed of para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise

So lying underneath those stormy skies.
She said oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh.
I know the sun must set to rise.

This could be para- para- paradise
Para- para- paradise
This could be para- para- paradise
Whoa-oh-oh oh-oooh oh-oh-oh.

UPDATE: turns out that song is about me, too. Happy birthday anyway, Eden. Kick 40s' arse.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

the dying of the year

I'm driving down the highway with the window down and a cool soft breeze blowing through my hair.

The sun is going down behind a long line of clouds and they're dazzlingly bright, white gold against the deepening blue sky.
Our streetlights are just starting to come on and gloom is gathering on the ground between the trees, but the tops are still painted in thick, heavy golden light, like egg yolk.

I am thinking how beautiful and sad autumn is, the dying of the year, bittersweet as we look back on summer and ahead to the bleak dreary winter.

I love these warm, mellow days, golden afternoons, cool evenings, and crisp mornings, but they always make me feel melancholy.

The Bard says it best:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.




image from here

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Angies' leg needs a good meal or two.

I know you've seen the kerfuffle about Angelinas' leg. Joke, staged PR event, rare slip-up, call it what you will, her pose got all the attention at this years' Oscars, sparking a viral meme and this photo appeared almost immediately.


which kind of took the attention away from this:


Look at her arms.

She is almost skin and bone. Her elbow is the largest part of her whole arm.

I'll confess now, I have a girly crush on Ange. (only partly because of Tomb Raider)
I think she is honestly one of the most beautiful women alive, but this skeletal frame is ugly.

It looks unhealthy, physically and emotionally.

It sends the worst kind of body image to women and girls everywhere.

This is how she used to look


Was that not beautiful enough??? Do you have to look like a bundle of broomsticks to be acceptable in Hollywood?

While looking for an image of Angie Before, I found a story expressing concern at her figure. You can read it here.


Saturday, March 3, 2012

my back is owned by a 6 foot miner

Edens' Fresh Horses brigade post this week is, for me, a bit of a curious one. Because for me, it's two different posts.

I do see signs, and I do feel like someones' got my back, but it aint the same thing.


I don't believe I have a guardian angel. Note, I'm not saying I don't think they exist. I just don't think there's one watching over me. And the only people I can think of who might be interested in the job are still alive, thank God.

The signs I see tend to be more like street signs or roadblocks in life.
Sometimes no matter how much I want something I cannot make it happen. It feels like the weight of the world is piled up behind the door and I can ... NOT... PUSH... it....... open.....

... which I take as a sign that it's not meant to happen.

And other times, I feel like I've waltzed through that open door, and the lights are on and the room is warm, and the table is all set and the food is waiting... you know?
When things are right, they're really RIGHT. Even if you have to work hard to get there, it feels do-able. It's a SIGN.


For whatever reasons, I've almost my whole life felt that I could never rely on anyone but myself. And yes, I've let me down plenty but it never hurts as much as when I've stood on tiptoe, holding my breath and hoping, only to be dropped and broken by someone else.

When my man and I got married, we had already been Best Friends for 11 years. Not romantically involved, but true friends.

We knew each other inside and out.
We knew we could trust each other, in the Big Things and the Little Things, and if you're married? you know they are often the same.

We're in this together, two parts that make a much bigger Whole.

We never speak poorly of each other to anyone, not even in an off-hand way at work or down the pub or to friends.
We never look sideways.
We never put each other down, we never belittle each other.
We won't allow anyone else to speak rudely to or of each other either, especially not our children.

We build each other up, he cherishes me (which is just as well, because he DID promise to) and I obey him (even though he says I don't) and shockingly, he loves me even when I blog about him.

No matter what happens, no matter what we're up against, we're a team. He's got my back. And I've got his.