30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 15: 5 Memories From My Childhood

We've reached the halfway point on my 30 day blog challenge. I didn't know if I'd enjoy writing all about myself and sending it out into the ether for anyone to read, but I'm having a great time! I hope you're enjoying it too. These memories are very, very random...

Me and my aunt Jayne

Memory #1:  Swimming. We had a pool at our house when I was young, and after we moved my dad kept promising me that we'd build a pool at our new home as soon as I qualified for the Olympics. I loved the water, and being called a fish was always a compliment.

Other swimming memories:
Buckin' Bronco...I'd get on my dad's back and he'd go down to the bottom of the pool and try to buck me off. 
Playing mermaid with my sisters in my grandma's pool, and I dared to swim with no one else around.
 My uncle Mark's boat. I'd sit on the front of it and we'd speed as fast as we could.
Being absolutely positive I'd seen the Bear Lake monster's eye.

I'm pretty sure that water is the key ingredient to an amazing childhood.

Memory #2: I must have been about 7 years old when my parents took me to see a production of Fiddler on the Roof. Right in the middle of the play, there is a scene where a Tevya pretends he just had a scary dream, and as he's telling it to his wife, it unfolds around them. I was completely fascinated by a ghost that hovered right over their bed. I can imagine what a pest I must have made of myself, asking my parents how the actress was floating above the ground, because I can remember as plain as anything when my dad said, "She's standing on a bowling ball. Shhh!" I spent the rest of the time in complete silence, trying to see the bowling ball. I was an adult before I realized that it wasn't true.

Me and Sam

Memory #3: We spent a couple of years living in Heber City, Utah about a mile from my grandpa's farm. They had a huge dog named Sam. My aunt Jayne says I was terrified of him, but I don't remember that. What I remember is being woken up one night by Sam's howling. He'd attacked a porcupine, which turned out to be a really bad idea. I remember watching my dad use pliers to pull the quills out one by one...Poor Sam.

Memory #4: Piano lessons. After a few years, I loved them, but at first they were miserable. I remember scribbling "I QUIT!" all over the song Home On The Range in the John Thompson songbook. When I couldn't take it anymore, I learned just to eliminate the middleman (my mom) and put my own self in the corner. But I am so grateful she didn't let me quit. Playing the piano is one of my favorite things now.



Memory #5: Being surrounded by handicapped people. I wish I could give this blessing to my kids. My dad worked in nursing homes for most of my life, and my mom had a very special relationship with her aunt Marlene and all of the ladies from Marlene's group home. They were always coming over for parties. Another man, Claire Durfee, had such severe cerebral palsy that he couldn't walk and most people couldn't understand him when he spoke. I could though. My mom always said I helped him learn to talk. I don't know if that's true or not. What I know is that he had a smile like sunshine and he always made me happy.

30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 14: 5 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

We are in the middle of our 1000th snow day of the year--at least that's the way it feels. So as I started writing today's blog, I asked my kids to answer this question.

Some Things My Kids Want To Do Before They Die 

• Jump Off A Cliff

Me: What? Jump off a cliff? This isn't a list about how you want to die, it's stuff you want to do first. Do you mean you want to go hang-gliding?

J#2: No. I just want to jump off a cliff.

It took a little more probing before I realized he wanted to go cliff jumping. Silly me...Here's the rest of the list:

• Sky diving
• Waterskiing
• Horseback riding
• Meet Johnny Depp
• Learn archery 
• Play in the FIFA world cup
•  Meet Wesley Sneijder
• Go to Switzerland
• publish a book
• jump in a pound of spikes

Me:  Is that your way of saying you're tired of talking about this?

Writing a list of 5 things I want to do before I die is very different than writing a list of 100 things I want to do before I die, or 20 things I want to do this year. A lot of whittling went on to make this list.  Then I found a great quote:

“If I had my life to live over I’d dare to make more mistakes. I’d relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously . . . I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I’d have fewer imaginary ones . . . “You see, I’ve been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter than I have. “If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.” 

 With that in mind, here is my list:

5 Things I Want To Do Before I Die
(and no, I don't really care if I learn how to count)

1. Hold my great grand-children.

2. Live like a local for a month. Preferably somewhere warm. Or Switzerland. Somewhere that changes me.

3. Publish things. Get read. I no longer have a desire to be world famous. But I would love to make a living doing something I love as much as writing.

4. Make peace with my body.

5. Be a temple worker.

6. Complete my kids' list with them.

30 Day Challenge--Day 13: My Playlist

Funny thing, but I actually made a playlist this morning before I remembered this was the topic. Glad you couldn't see me rocking out in my car--it might have made me self-conscious. Nothing new here, just all great music that has passed the test of time.

1. Give It To Me by Timbaland,

2. Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida

3. Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood

4. Beer In Mexico by Kenny Chesney

5. Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson

6. Viva La Vida by Coldplay

7. I'm Your Man by Michael Buble

8. Queen of Hearts by Juice Newton

9. Somebody to Love The Glee Cast version

10. Love Story Meets Viva La Vida by: Jon Schmidt

30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 12: Something I Love

Something I Love...Clearplay

I started doing this 30 day challenge just over 2 weeks ago. When I first read the list of challenges, I KNEW I was going to blog about how much I love my Clearplay DVD player. It's an amazing device that allows you to download filters for loads of movies and an increasing number of TV shows. We're making our way through the episodes of Chuck right now. The filtering system edits out most of the stuff I wouldn't want my kids to see--though for some reason I couldn't get it to edit out Captain Awesome when he dressed up as Adam for Halloween, and it took some experimenting before I figured out what mix of settings would eliminate Sarah in her underwear.

For most of the movies we want to watch, it simply edits out the swearing. We could also program it to edit out just about anything we might have a problem with: violence and/or gore, sex and/or nudity, disrespectful talking, racial slurs, even mushiness. I've never used the mushiness setting, but one of these days I'm going to turn it on and figure out what the heck that's all about. There are 12 filtering categories in all, and for each category you can set "No Filtering; Least Filtering; Medium Filtering; or Most Filtering."

If they are skipping sound, the image keeps going, kind of like on TV-edited shows. If they skip a sight, it's a split second jump--in many cases you don't even notice it, but sometimes you can. One thing they strive to do is maintain the quality of the show and the storyline, and if something is important to the storyline, they don't filter it. I haven't had a problem with that.

They are constantly adding more movies and television shows to their data base, and they send you periodic updates. You take the flashdrive out of the DVD player, put it in the computer and push one little button and you've got their entire data base updated. It takes about 10 seconds, if that.

We've had to learn the hard way that not all content can be edited out of movies. If a movie is geared to teach a message you find offensive, Clearplay can't do a thing about it. It's also probably not going to edit out the important conversation two strangers have while lying in bed after meeting in a bar and...You get the picture.

The worst movie we ever watched on Clearplay was Grease. If I remember right, two of my favorite songs were completely edited out. Even with all settings up to maximum, we couldn't edit out the poor messages in that movie.

One of the best shows we've watched on Clearplay was the latest Star Trek movie. We kept most of the filtering off, but had language and violence on "least." I only noticed one spot where they edited violence, but there was a constant stream of swearing edited. We didn't miss it at all.

30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 11: Something I Hate

 

This post might not win me any friends. Quickly! Before I get hate mail! I DON'T hate Buffy the Vampire Slayer OR Veronica Mars. Logan Echolls and Xander Harris are some of my all time favorite television characters. What I hate is the way these shows reeled me in, made me love the characters like good friends and then spiraled down into a place where I didn't feel comfortable watching them anymore.

I've always felt that by the time my kids were teenagers, if a show wasn't appropriate for them to watch with me, most of the time I shouldn't be watching it either (with some obvious exceptions--my teens are still too young for some adult themes). The day I started needing to check the episode guide of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before I let my daughter watch it with me was a sad, sad day. We just finished the few acceptable episodes of season 4, and from what I can tell, it's not even worth it to look at the episode guide for season 5. 

 

As you all know, Chuck is my favorite TV show. It started this same slippery slide--there is a point somewhere in season 2, maybe season 3, where I thought I might have to give it up. But some genius person on the Chuck writing staff realized that adding more sex was not what was going to save the ratings. Of course the characters on Chuck still don't act exactly the way I think they should--what a boring, sanitized show it would be if everyone did. But I'm no longer bombarded with a constant assault on my values. 

Wake up television! There are still lots of us out there who want smart, sexy television without the trash!

30 Day Challenge--Day 10: A Memory from 10 years ago

I'm just not sure how I'm going to top Day 9. I even took a day off, hoping for some inspiration.

I'm really glad for today's topic, because 10 years ago was a bittersweet time for me. I read through my journal (I wrote a total of 3 entries in 2001--pretty typical, unfortunately). 10 years ago, I was still adjusting to our move across the country. I had 2 small children, and almost exactly a decade ago, we found out our next baby was going to be severely handicapped. The doctor's exact words were "And not in the cute, down-syndrome kind of way." Our baby had a hole in his brain called a dandywalker that would require shunts for drainage. I wrote "It's kind of like walking into your worst nightmare, and slowly figuring out it's not really a nightmare at all."

We were still adjusting to this shocking news when he died. We named him Benjamin. It was, quite possibly, the toughest time in my life so far, and yet my family has never felt so literally carried in our Heavenly Father's hands. I'm incredibly grateful for the knowledge that he'll be part of our family forever.

Here is the one journal entry from 2001 that doesn't deal directly with Benjamin, although you'll still feel reverberations:

Have you ever tried to be depressed with a four year old, a three year old, and a golden retriever puppy? I can't even curl into the fetal position or the dog will eat my hair, D will super-slam me and J will tickle me. I'm potty-training D, and so he was going around in one of my t-shirts and he crawled on the kitchen counter and peed everywhere. J just handed me $1.25 and said, "Here Mom. I'll give you sixty dollars and seventy two cents if you'll read us Christmas stories." I said, "You need to bribe your own mom into reading you stories?" and she said, "Of course." How can I be in a bad mood when my life is such a sitcom?

 I don't have any pictures of Benjamin to share, but here's a picture of Molly, my amazing dog who died a couple of months ago.

30 Day Blog Challenge--Day 9: Something I Don't Leave My House Without

Unfortunately, I would leave the house without my head attached if there was any possible way to do it. But 99% of the time I don't leave the house without these:

   

Why I Love My Cloth Grocery Bags:

• They magically turn me into Superwoman! With hardly any effort on my part, I'm single-handedly saving one corner of the world. Now I am ultra-aware how many plastic bags I would have gotten if I hadn't had my cloth bags with me. It's a lot. No wonder there are rumors of people building an island out of all the plastic bags we're using.

• When I use them I feel like a super-organized genius. This is because I've had all these cloth bags for a long time, but I would never think about them until I was standing in line at the grocery store. When I finally got back to my car, with about 37 plastic bags, there the cloth bags would be, mocking me with their complete emptiness. Finally, I invested $4.50 and bought myself 3 of the fold-able kind with snaps. Now I keep them in a small bag along with my wallet and other essentials and I rarely forget them! And 3 of the fold-able grocery bags have about the same capacity as 37 plastic bags, so it's all good.

• They make me feel European-ish. I have no idea why, but they do.

• They are so much more convenient than plastic or paper bags. I remember the thrill I felt the first time my mom came home with plastic bags instead of paper. It was so much easier to unload the back of the station wagon that it was almost like a party. Well, cloth bags are THAT much better than plastic.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 8--A Song That Fits Your Mood

I think Lady Gaga (or was it Beyonce?) said it best:

"Stop calling, stop calling, I don't want to talk anymore..."

I made an error in judgment (or two) yesterday. L went to her first slumber party, and I let her take the cell phone. Not only did she keep us up half the night calling to check in every half hour (Hi! It's 1:39 and I just wanted to tell you I love you!...Hi! It's 2:10 and can you believe we're still awake?...), but she also called her grandparents at 1:00 in the morning. I finally asked the woman giving the party to confiscate the phone, but I didn't fall asleep until about 3:30. Of course our first regular phone call of the morning came at 6:15.

The song Telephone doesn't quite capture my feelings though, so here's my pick for today:

30 Day Challenge--Day 7: A Picture That Makes Me Laugh

 

When I saw today's challenge, Gary Larson's Far Side was the first thing I thought of. Here's one website that will have you laughing until you cry.

30 Day Challenge Day 6: One person you couldn't imagine your life without

The original question was : Who would you like to trade places with for a day?

You know, I couldn't think of anyone.

My life has its problems, but it's a comfort to know that I wouldn't trade it for anything else. On the other hand, it was making this blog post very boring, so I chose an alternate question.

My friend Susan is one person I couldn't imagine my life without. We're in the same ward, and she lives very close to the church building, while I live about half an hour away.

We're in the process of putting our house on the market so that we can move closer to church. It's a slow process, made slower by our crazy busy lifestyle. But if I were to be totally honest, the real reason our house in not already for sale is how overwhelmed I am at the whole thing.

Eleven years. That's how long I've lived in this house. It's pretty clean--never clean enough, in my opinion, and it's well lived in. We've got the magical kinds of bookshelves where books don't stay still. Wii remotes snake across our floor of their own volition, and marbles and legos multiply and scatter as soon as we turn our backs. It's a great house, but the thought of keeping it clean long enough to sell it makes me want to cry, and cry...and finally pray.

"Heavenly Father, I've never thought of myself as an incompetent person, but this simple thing that everyone has to do at some point in their lives has got me completely frozen. I don't know what to do! There are so many projects that I can't even pick one. I really, truly, from the bottom of my soul, need help."

My prayer started small and built into a silent kind of keening, that grew until it was finally answered by a phone call from Susan. "Melanie, if you want me, I've decided to come over to your house once a week until your house is ready to sell." And she has--for a couple of months now, she spends an entire day at my house. Together we get so much more done than I could ever have done on my own, even with twice the time.

At first I was thoroughly uncomfortable with that level of service. I knew it was something I could probably never repay, and I'm not sure anyone outside of my family has ever given that much to me before. We have a good time, chatting and laughing even while she cleaned out my trash compactor. My eyes still well up with tears when I think about it though, because it touches me on a deeply spiritual level.

For whatever reason, I couldn't do this thing. It didn't seem like it should be as impossible as it was, but I couldn't do it. To me, Susan was a little bit like Jesus Christ, who has given me a gift I quite simply can never repay. I can't do it alone, and so he's with me every step of the way, being the bridge to the places I can't get to on my own.

I feel the same sense of obligation, though on a much smaller scale, to Susan as I do to my Savior--an obligation to go out and make the world a better place, to try and lighten someone's load the way mine has been lightened.

30 Day Challenge: Day 5: This Day in My Life (with a bonus Chuck promo!)

Image courtesy of Ohdeedoh

6:30 I sleep until this late, late hour, and then stumble around the house pretending to be helpful. R, J and D are spending the day skiing at Sugarloaf. Unfortunately, D is acting suspiciously like he might be getting sick. :(

7:30 They are finally off. It's just me, L and J #2 today. Our plans to spend the day with a friend have to be canceled because J #2 has a wicked sore throat. Instead, I critique a story for a friend, try to figure out this enigma called Squidoo and generally waste time until 8:30. Meanwhile, L and J are either sitting on my lap, coloring at the table or playing Wii Fit.

8:30-10:00 My plans for World Laundry Domination have been thwarted by J #1, who left 2 (two!) loads of wet clothes in the laundry room. I have regrouped, however, and now have plans for World Water Usage Domination--all my laundry, plus I didn't turn on the dishwasher last night, plus 1 shower and 2 baths, all (hopefully) before lunch today.

10:00-12:00 World Water Usage Domination is close to being on schedule. One lonely load of laundry left to be washed. I got sidetracked by a bookshelf moving project. In an astonishing turn of events, my bookshelves look very nice. A less astonishing side note--I now have books piled all over my living room floor.

12:00-5:00 All sorts of routine stuff, including boxing up the extra books, lunch, hangman with the kids and bringing wood in from the garage. I exercised! Then I went to my dentist appointment with two kids in tow. Fun, fun, fun!

This was actually J #1's appointment, but it's hard to get your teeth cleaned while skiing down the slopes. Since I had to cancel my appointment last week, I was glad to take her place. By the time I got to the dentist, L was sick again--pale, lying on the floor, miserable-looking sick. The poor kid. I thought she was finally over this. On the other hand, J #2 seems like he's feeling a little bit better.

Now I'm going to fold laundry while I watch Chuck vs The Masquerade. I haven't exactly been working my tail off today, but I think I still deserve a break. My dentist appointment wore both my sickly children out, so they are going to watch Blue's Clues for a while. My kids have a theory that Blue's Clues will cure most types of illness, but if it's REALLY bad, they need Kipper. If Kipper comes on, I might have to ditch Chuck. I love that puppy.

5:00  Chuck is amazing. Here's a promo for next week, you unfortunate people who haven't yet discovered Chuck and Co.:

 

 6:39 Everyone made it home safely and dinner's on the table. The kids are full of stories about half pipes and catching air, and R just reminded me the home teachers will be here in 20 minutes. Have a great night!

30 Day Challenge: Day 4--My Favorite Book

That's like asking me to tell you which child is my favorite. I just can't do it!

Of course there is my all-time favorite as yet unpublished book by that amazingly talented author--Melanie Crouse. The book is called Earth's Gate. And then there are the runners-up:

 

I'm sure there are more, but those are the five that first come to mind.

Book Review: Pathfinder

Pathfinder

by: Orson Scott Card

672 pages

published in 2010

5/5 stars 

Synopsis:

Is this science fiction? Or is it fantasy? I'm not sure. Orson Scott Card twists the two so well that it really doesn't matter. I love Debbie Carton's review of Pathfinder for Booklist, and try as I might, I couldn't do better, so here it is: 

The first in a series, Card’s latest title has much in common with his Ender Wiggins books: precocious teens with complementary special talents, callously manipulative government authorities, endlessly creative worlds, and Card’s refusal to dumb down a plot for a young audience. Here he takes the notions of folding space and time, embracing paradox, “adopting a rule set in which . . . causality . . . controls reality, regardless of where it occurs on the timeline.” Thirteen-year-old Rigg is a Pathfinder, one who sees the paths of others’ pasts. Rigorously trained and thoroughly educated by his demanding father, Rigg is horrified when Father dies unexpectedly after a final order to find the sister he never knew he had. Rigg is accompanied on this journey by a small group of friends who have powers of bending and manipulating the flow of time. Card also skillfully twines a separate story line into the plot, featuring earth’s colonization of distant planets, led by the idealistic young pilot Ram Odin. Fast paced and thoroughly engrossing, the 650-plus pages fly by, challenging readers to care about and grasp sophisticated, confusing, and captivating ideas. As in L’Engle’s Time Quartet, science is secondary to the human need to connect with others, but Card does not shy away from full and fascinating discussions of the paradoxical worlds he has created. Grades 8-12. --Debbie Carton

My review:

You already know how I feel about Orson Scott Card. I think he's a genius--not just sort of a genius, but a Benjamin Franklin, Mensa should be so lucky-type. I think this is one of his best. I was so excited about Lost Gate, but after reading this one I remember what genius is. Debbie Carton was right to compare Rigg to Ender. This book still hasn't toppled my triumvirate of OSC books (Ender's Game, Speaker For The Dead and Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus) but Pastwatch is teetering...

30 Day Challenge: Day 3--My Favorite Television Show

As if you didn't know...

It's Chuck, baby!

If you don't already know, (and I'm always shocked by how many people DON'T already know--obviously they are not my friends on facebook) Chuck is on NBC on Monday nights. It's the action dramedy about Chuck, an underachieving nerd with all of our nations secrets downloaded into his brain. I have loved watching him transition from a clumsy geek to a powerhouse spy. Even better, the clearplay DVD player cleans this television show up seamlessly. Best yet--so far, season 4 barely needs cleaning up.

Don't know what a clearplay DVD player is? Just wait a few more days.
(Ooh...suspense!)

Day 2: 5 Little Things That Make Me Happy

1. The feeling of blankets wrapped around my bare feet at night.

2. When one of my children calls my attention to something because they want to share it with me. This happened last night at 3 a.m.
L: I called you in here to look at the night sky.
Me: (yawning) It's beautiful.
L: I know. I can't take my eyes off it.

3. Puddles!

4. Sitting by the fire reading a good book or watching a good movie.

5. When the lyrics in a song really flow. You know what I'm talking about--when one line in a song gives you happy shivers. It rarely has to do with what the song is saying, it's the way they say it.

Example:
The Eagles singing Desperado:
Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine.
It's hard to tell the night time from the day.
You're losing all your highs and lows,
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?

DAY 1: 15 Things About Me

1. I have four amazing children, a great husband and a cat named Tiger, plus a still-born baby and a golden retriever waiting for us in heaven.

2. Our dog died two months ago, and since then Tiger has been doing her best to drive me crazy--scratching everyone and flicking her tail in my face. Plus she's always on the wrong side of every door, especially at two o'clock in the morning.

3. I'm not really an animal person, so I'm not sure why my first three things involved animals.

4. However, when I was a kid, I did plan to make my living riding whales at Sea World in San Diego.

5. Our house is for sale.

6. I've written several novels--only one is really polished enough to consider trying to sell.

7. I can't seem to make myself try to sell it.

8. Which in a complicated, convoluted way is why I started this blog in the first place. Don't ask.

9. I was raised in Utah, but now I live in a small town in central Maine. I miss the mountains all the time, but if I ever moved back I think I'd miss the lakes at least as much, maybe more.

10. I am a Mormon, and I love every minute of it.

11. I am the young women's president.

12. I'm not very athletic, but I get my best ideas for my novels while I'm hiking, snow shoeing and swimming.

13. I wish I lived near a big enough city that I could take boxing, fencing and zumba lessons.

14. When we hear a song I know in public, my kids all grip my arms and hiss under their breath: "Do Not start singing or dancing" OR, if they are slow on the uptake, then they hiss "Stop it" (and it takes a conscious act of will on my part to obey them. I think I'm alone far too much...)

15. I'm 39 and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but it involves some combination of writing and teaching.

I Am Number Four

I AM NUMBER FOUR
by: Pittacus Lore
440 pages
published in 210

SUMMARY
Oh my goodness. I've got so much to say about this book, I don't want to bother writing a summary. Really, the book's cover says it all..."Three are dead. I am number four."

Doesn't that give you chills? 9 alien children from the planet Lorien are growing up on the planet Earth. They don't have any contact with each other, but they are bound together by a spell. As long as they never meet, they can only be killed in order. And the Mogadorians want them dead. Number Four knows when the first three die because a scar appears on his leg. He knows he is next.

REVIEW
Since Hunger Games, so many authors are trying to write in present tense. When done correctly, it is an amazing way to write action/adventure, because it makes the reader feel like they are right there in the middle of it all. But no one can do present tense like Suzanne Collins, including the mythical Pittacus Lore. His action/adventure is amazing. But he doesn't have the knack for making exposition flow in present tense. It's tough. His slower moments end up reading like this, "In today's game, one of her brothers and her father like one of the teams, while her other brother likes the other team. They argue with each other, taunt each other, cheer and groan depending on what's happening in the game." Yeah. Really.

I also had a difficult time believing some of the characters motivations, especially when he stays in town, although he knows he's putting his girlfriend at risk. Another character completely switches personalities for the last 90 pages of the book. I'm willing to let that one go, pending finding out a really great reason why in the sequel--cause I'll be there for the sequel. Everything I just wrote, and about a dozen other problems with the book, won't stop me from reading The Power of Six when it comes out in August 2011.

As I read, I felt almost like I was reading a very detailed screen play. This was one book that was made to be a movie. And I don't have long to wait. The movie comes out next week. With Alex Pettyfer as the star, no less. It's going to be amazing.


I recommend this book for most teenagers.

Trying something new

Testing, testing...It would be very cool if this worked
http://listen.grooveshark.com/album/The+Wonders+Of+Younger+Out/5243859?src=5 This is the link to the Plain White T's song "The Rythm of Love"

Crouse Family Top 10 List of Retro Songs

It didn't work out the way I expected.

I just assumed that the music I remember loving when I was young would be a part of my life forever. When I got my first mp3 player, Duran Duran was one of the first things I downloaded. We don't get in the mood for that as much as I thought we would. And is it possible for anyone to not like End Of The Road by Boyz II Men? My kids don't.

Here is a top 10 list of oldie songs we do love. This list is in a constant state of flux because we keep remembering new ones.

10. Desperado (LP Version) by the Eagles

9. I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred

8. Mr. Mom by Lonestar.

7.5  What About Now by Lonestar. My kids love it, but it probably wouldn't have made this list except that it's one of my all time favorite songs.

7. Lucille (2006 Digital Remaster) by Kenny Rogers. And The Gambler, and Coward Of The County (2006 Digital Remaster) This list isn't doing a very good job staying at only 10...

6. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce

5. It's My Party by Lesley Gore

4. My Boyfriend's Back by the Angels

3. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N'Roses (And OK, just about anything by Def Leppard, but I'm running out of space here. And did you see Slash during the halftime show last night??? Good times, good times)

2. Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor (Mainly because of this video...)

This was an outtake--The actor who plays Sam had missed his cue, but no one called "cut!" so

the actor who plays Dean kept going. Isn't he awesome? But I digress...

1.5 I almost forgot!!! My kids adore Elvira by the Oak Ridge Boys.

Drum roll please: The number one oldie song in our family at the moment is:

1. You're So Vain by Carly Simon. You walked into the party, like you were walking onto a yacht... We can't hear it and not sing along. It's impossible.

What are your favorite songs from the "olden days"? 

Josh Turner

Holy mackerel. He has a sexy voice.

In this song, his voice is so decadent that I kept thinking the lyrics had to be sinful. But they're not.

The Lost Gate

THE LOST GATE

by: Orson Scott Card
378 pages
published in 2010
Genre: Fantasy


Summary: 
The trickster god Loki has imprisoned several warring clans of gods on Earth for centuries, where they have forged a fragile truce. Without access to their homeland, their magic has become diluted. Everyone in the North family knows that Danny is a drekka--a god stuck on Earth without any magic at all. But then Danny realizes he is a gatemage, with the power, but not the skill necessary to reopen the gate to their homeland of Westil. As he flees for his life from those who would either kill him or force him to work for them, he discovers that the clans were not the only people stranded on Westil when the gates closed.

This novel is really two stories, set on alternate worlds. Danny's story takes up the majority of the novel, but meanwhile, the story of a boy called Wad is unfolding on Westil. To the average observer, Wad seems like the least important person in the kitchens at the castle, yet his power and influence will determine the destiny of the whole country.


Review:
First of all, Orson Scott Card is such a hero of mine that I nearly find myself tongue-tied at my own audacity. How can I review one of his books when his characters have been the inspiration for so much of my own life? I see other reviewers calling him "Card" and it makes me wince at the disrespect. Crazy, I know. So here goes...



Orson Scott Card's characters are usually super intelligent, but they still make lots of mistakes. They usually learn to screw up more thoughtfully the next time and they never give up. As their ability to achieve their objectives evolves, their ability to empathize with the people around them grows as well, and that is the charm of his books. I love, love, love falling into one of OSC's worlds, and this was no exception.


At first, I was hopeful that OSC had finally created another Ender (Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1)just for me. And then Danny seemed more like Bean (Ender's Shadow (Ender, Book 5) which was also acceptable. But by the end of the book, he was just Danny--still gifted like Ender and Bean, but with his own personality--as sly as Bean, but much more comfortable with his own sense of humor.


Because The Lost Gate takes place in such a complicated world, much of the novel is explanation and exposition. But OSC is a master storyteller. He weaves the physics of gatemaking almost seamlessly into the narrative. I enjoyed every page.


The Lost Gate is a crossover novel--marketed to both teenagers and adults. I recommend it only for very mature teens. The writing is complex and Danny and Wad find themselves in some adult situations. Although my kids loved Ender's Game, I'm not ready to recommend this one to them yet.
 

Cute Video, Creepy Lyrics/Cute Lyrics, Creepy Video

I'm moving away from hip hop this week to talk about some of my favorite country music. I recently discovered Sugarland, the country duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. Their song, Stuck Like Glue is a bouncy, fun love song. The music video features Captain Awesome from Chuck--what's not to love about that??? (Ryan McPartlin)

Well, for one thing, the music video is actually pretty creepy. My kids don't quite understand why I find it so disturbing--but I'd like to think no one would get away with making a cute music video about a man kidnapping a woman, tying her up, getting her drunk and then punching her in the face. Why should a man be any different?

When I talked to my kids about this, J called the woman a "creeper," which is such a great description that I had to add it.

 

Moving on to The Band Perry. Kimberly Perry is the lead vocalist in a band with her 2 brothers. When I first heard the song "If I Die Young" I liked everything except the lyrics, which seem to celebrate dying--"And maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singing/Funny when you're dead how people start listening." Since The Band Perry appeals to a young audience, I wasn't impressed by such dark lyrics.

But the music video is amazing! It changed the whole song for me. I'm a big Anne of Green Gables fan. Do you remember the scene where Anne is pretending to be the Lady of Shallott, and her boat starts to sink? Welcome to this music video. She's even holding a book of poems by Tennyson. 

We all like this song, but it's my eight year old who sings (all day long!) about how she wants to be buried in satin and sunk in the river at dawn.

Howl's Moving Castle

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
by: Diana Wynne Jones
429 pages
published in 1986

I was between stacks of reading material this week, so I reread one of my favorites. This book is full of chapters called things like "Chapter 5, Which Is Far Too Full of Washing" and "Chapter 6, In Which Howl Expresses His Feelings With Green Slime". Plus it's got Howl, the consummate talented, vain and charming man with a well-hidden heart of gold. Diana Wynne Jones is a prolific and talented author, and this is probably her best work. No one else could have pulled it off.

Sophie is a beautiful young lady until the Witch of the Waste curses her with old age.To break the curse, she makes a deal with a fire demon named Calcifer--if she can free him from the heartless wizard Howl, Calicifer promises to break the enchantment that makes her old. From the very beginning I wanted this to be a love story--but how could it be, when she calls all the eligible bachelors "young man" and works as Howl's cleaning lady?

I give this my highest recommendation.

Bruno Mars

JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

 

Isn't Bruno Mars a cutie? He kind of reminds me of Michael Jackson in his too-perfect-to-be real phase. Just The Way You Are came on the radio at least a dozen times today. I started loving this song in a strange way. I kept hearing the tail end of it on the radio. The sweet lyrics even brought a tear or two to my eyes. I imagined that he was singing the song to a burn victim.

My oldest daughter and I were talking about the importance of loving someone for who they were on the inside, and I used this song as an example of that. And then I contrasted it to that other song I kept hearing on the radio...the one that started, "Her eyes, her eyes, Make the stars look like they're not shining; Her hair, her hair, Looks beautiful without her trying; She's so beautiful..." I would always get disgusted at that point and turn it off.

She looked at me kind of strangely and said, "You know that's the exact same song, don't you?" Google was called on to settle the matter, and as usual, she won. Still, I like this song, even if it's not quite as "beauty is only skin deep" as I'd originally thought it was.

GRENADE

And speaking of Bruno Mars...I love Grenade even better. What a talented guy. Personally, I think these lyrics shine.

The Club Can't Handle Me, pt. 2

A few days ago I posted about dancing in the church parking lot during a snow storm at nighttime. We were waiting for my friend Renee to pick up her daughters and their friend. After reading my version of events, she sent me a message on facebook with her journal entry about the event. It was so amazing that I asked permission to post it here:

And turning quickly I saw them there, 5 perhaps 6, dancing in the moonbeams on a field of white. Fairies I think they were. Some were linked hand-in-hand as in a childhood game of ring-around-the-rosies. Others were solitary, with arms raised in praise to the heavens. Each head was thrown back in joyous laughter. Almost it seemed, in the same instant that I saw them, they were gone, spirited away to another plane. But their brilliance filled my spirit with happiness all the way home.

Even if the soundtrack was a silly hip hop song, this was the exact feeling of it. It was a magical moment. 

A Kiss In Time

A KISS IN TIME

by: Alex Flinn

371 pages

published in 2009

Synopsis:

Talia is your typical Sleeping Beauty. Jack is your typical red blooded American boy. After he breaks the curse that has kept her asleep for 316 years, they flee from the wrath of her father. Where do they go? To Florida of course. Talia has lots to learn about modern day life, and Jack has lots to learn about women.

Review:

This is the last book in my stack of overdue library books, and I saved the best for last. This book was complete fun. It was such a fluffy, silly plot, but I love to watch good characters grow.  This is a book for mature teenagers. In one party scene they drink beer and Talia innocently gets drunk from jell-o shots and is nearly taken advantage of. This book could generate some interesting discussions about underage drinking or about how our perceptions of beauty have changed over time, and what beauty really is.

The Club Can't Handle Me

Woo hoo! Such good news in the Crouse world! I LOVE this song. There hasn't been a song this impossible to not dance to since Fire Burning by Sean Kingston. Even my husband has been heard surreptitiously whistling it as he walks down the hall.

Last Saturday I went on a 65 mile (each way) journey with 5 teenagers in the car in a snowstorm at night. We got back to the church to rendezvous with their ride home. We had a few minutes to kill, and Club Can't Handle Me came on the mp3 player. Imagine us with the music up high, dancing around the parking lot with big fluffy snowflakes falling all around us. It was--by far--the best part of the whole night.

But I've been cautious about watching the music video, because I'm leery of anyone who would sing a duet with Ke$ha (They sang Right Round together a couple of years ago.)

But I finally sat down to watch it, and it's the most appropriate clubbing music video I've ever seen. I'm not much of a car girl, but from the start, when Flo Rida is getting out of that AMAZING car and throwing money around, it was just an extravaganza of fun.