Bad reviews
So, I have a twisted fascination with reading scortching reviews, particularly of "bad movies," which I've yet to explore fully. I have often wondered exactly why a generally positive person such as myself would delight so in reviews of bad movies/art/books, and I haven't found an adaquate explanation, but I think it has something to do with the passion and zest I can sense in the author. Yes, people can get passionate about good movies/books/art, but the passion they get for bad ones is just much deeper and more interesting to me!Today I read a gloriously scathing review of a book called "Our Town," about the "hidden history of white america," by Cynthia Carr...I'll copy two of my favorite paragraphs below and you can enjoy the rest at your leisure by going to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032301420.html
"In certain precincts occupied by certain members of the American intelligentsia, it has for some time been quite the fashion to ferret out racists in one's familial woodpile and then to write books about them. The ostensible purpose of these books is to provide intimate, confessional evidence of the degree to which racial prejudice has infiltrated every conceivable corner of American life. Their obvious if unstated purpose is to show how the (white) author has triumphed over his or her sordid ancestral inheritance to become a person of impeccable credentials on matters racial. Though all due modesty and claims of imperfection are expressed, the reader is expected to stand and cheer as, at book's end, the author's heroic achievement is revealed in full.
...it purports to tell what its subtitle calls 'the Hidden History of White America' by exploring how its author's grandparents may or may not have been complicit in, or at least friendly witnesses to, a horrific lynching in August 1930 in the small Indiana city of Marion. The unfortunate truth is that evidence of Carr's forebears' involvement in the atrocity is slender and shadowy at best, the raw material for a magazine article at most. In order to stretch it into what frequently seems the longest book ever written, Carr is forced to look elsewhere, especially to the Ku Klux Klan, the sordid past and present of which she examines endlessly without managing to add an iota to what we already know about it." -Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post | posted by Cheryl, 3/29/2006 03:11:00 PM | 0 comments |
Classic parental unit shot
Here are the parents, reluctantly letting go of their babies (both Shelly and Kev are the babies of their respective families)! The sunlight was falling just perfect as we took these pics.
| posted by Cheryl, 3/28/2006 10:16:00 PM
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Yay, family
So, i haven't figured out how to put up multiple pics at once yet (if you didn't notice)...anyway, here's a fantastic one of my aunt Carol Lynn, Grandma, and my aunt Merry Ann! It was such a treat to have Carol Lynn come all the way from Holland for the wedding!
| posted by Cheryl, 3/28/2006 10:12:00 PM
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Sister power...
Ummm, yeah, this is my sister and I at her freaking WEDDING...I barely recognize myself, thank god for make-up! Isn't she radiant? More pics to come - thanks to my cousin, Karin, for sending this lovely one!
| posted by Cheryl, 3/28/2006 10:09:00 PM
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Wedding pictures!
Here's the first one that's come in - from right after the ceremony!It pretty much speaks for itself, right?
| posted by Cheryl, 3/26/2006 04:04:00 PM
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Tears Smiles Tears WEDDING smiles!!!
Oh my gosh. I don't even know what to say, and that is saying a LOT for me...in my sister's euphoric words, the wedding day and all the preperations leading up to it were PERFECT!I can't wait to have some pictures to share...for now, all i have are words...I think i'll always remember waking up at 8 am after a night of karaoke, hot tubbing and cartoon watching to hear my sister beseech me to come and "snuggle" with her on her wedding morning!
We pulled open her blinds and, lo and behold, the SUN was SHINING (in rainy March!), and my co-bridesmaid Stephanie came in and piled on the bed, and then my mom came in, and the day just started on such a happy note!
In the movies, the wedding day is always portrayed as complete chaos, with the mother of the bride freaking out over centerpieces and the bride yelling at her bridesmaids...I'd say we were prettty much the opposite of that, although we had just enough nervous tension to make the event seem real!
The bridesmaids all came over to our house and we took turns getting our hair and make-up done (we had gone for manicures/pedicures yesterday), and then we just had this freak-out moment at around 2 when we realized we had to actually go up to the church and get into our dresses!
We had all commented on what a cool, calm and collected bride michelle was, all week, but i think it really sunk in once she took a look at herself in her dress...we were all in a room together at the church and she just stared at herself in the mirror, as if she couldn't believe this was the day, and we all of course teared up! I love being a girl sometimes!
There's so much to say, wow, i can't even begin to summarize it now...we listened to oldies and got ready together, then michelle and kevin shared a special moment (with the photographer), and we took pictures outside in the BEAUTIFUL (but FREEZING cold) sunshine...one of my favorite moments was lining up outside the sanctuary and watching everyone else go down with Michelle, because she was getting emotional and she kept telling people not to look at her, and i was joking about how she should think of all the bad memories to make her stop crying from joy, and it's hard to describe but it was just really funny!
Walking down the aisle was a piece of cake this time (as opposed to shannon's wedding, where i totally lost it because it actually hit me she was getting MARRIED), but when i saw michelle walk down with my dad, then it really hit me...the fact that she's marrying kevin is awesome, but the fact that she'll no longer be just my little sister but also someone's wife is still taking a while to sink in. Seeing my daddy have to let go was so bittersweet!
Oh my gosh. I can't even begin to describe the way they were looking at each other. AHH!
The sermon was really interesting - I'm not Christian but michelle and kevin are both very serious about their faith, and i just got the best vibe from both the pastors they chose (one from his church, one from hers). They obviously both loved michelle and kevin very much, and i was so shocked to see them shaking a bit as they read their sermons...that made me tear up a bit for sure!
The funniest moment was when kevin misspoke while attempting his vows - i forget what he said but everyone laughed, and it just reinforced what a down to earth, happy couple they are!
The reception was just more joyful...I got to catch up with some family whom i haven't seen in a while (my older cousin Karin, whose wedding I was a FLOWER GIRL in, brought her 3 kids and awesome husband, and my other cousin/aunt who live in Holland came!), and bond with some of kevin's friends/groomsmen (we laughed a lot and bonded over quotes from BBC's "The office"), AND eat from an awesome pasta buffet, AND the SLIDE SHOW i made worked, AND the first dance with shelly and kev was adorable, AND my daddy and shelly dancing to "Godspeed" made me cry, AND the dance party rocked (especially with kevin's friend doing a Napolean impression), AND the toasts were eloquent, funny, and sincere, AND i can't believe my sister's freaking MARRIED, and it was seriously one of the best moments of my year so far!
I'm so glad i was able to be present for it, and i mean present in just being aware of the moment and not just letting it go by in a blur...it still went WAY too fast, but I feel i really made the most of every moment. I had wondered whether seeing all the happy people in love would make me just a little sad because suraj and i only broke up 2 weeks ago, but i was just so busy catching up with family and being happy for michelle that honestly i just felt very complete, as if nothing was missing (of course i have to give suraj some credit because we've done a good job of being friends, and i don't mean to imply that i feel perfect about the situation all the time, but it's worth noting that the break-up did not cause any negative effects on my enjoyment of the wedding).
AHH! My sister's married! This is so cool! Yeah, i went to vassar, yeah, i'm supposed to question all this mainstream stuff, marriage is just a contract on a piece of paper, blah blah blah, but come on, weddings are just inherently FUN, I LOVE big celebrations, and i think they serve a greater purpose than just making you feel happy for some moments in time...any milestone like a marriage just makes you think of things in the big perspective, right? Michelle and Kevin obviously felt so loved and uplifted by all the supportive people around them, and it just sort of reinforced their sense of community, and at least for me personally i felt a great sense of closeness with my immediate and extended family. Plus, even though i'm not religious, I do appreciate that side of it, and there was just this sense of purpose about it all...that really moved me!
Ok, yeah, and PLUS i looked HOT! Seriously, wait for the pictures, hehe! Michelle of course was the most radiant, but i think all the bridal party looked amazing!
Ok this is obviously deteriorating...i need to catch up on some serious sleep, but wanted to get this out of my system for a while! I love my sister so much, and Kevin is just such a great match for her...there are things i don't understand about where they come from (religiously), but just as people, I can't imagine two personalities better suited for each other! I have such a blast with them, and I can't wait til they move in to Kev's place in Seatac and i can come over and play Pictionary and play with all their new presents and be merry!
MY SISTER IS SO COOL! Did i mention that? How did i get so lucky? I used to tease her and be a terrible sister when we were young, and i am SO happy that now that we're older we are so close! She always gets the things that i think are funny and i love her laugh so much and she's so freaking SMART and I LOVE HER! | posted by Cheryl, 3/25/2006 11:32:00 PM | 0 comments |
Monday Musings...
I keep forgetting to tell people that I'm now working two part time jobs: 1) in the old office where i've been temping off and on since June 2005 (University of Washington Medical Center), and 2) as a freelance WRITER for the photographer Phil Borges, who founded "Bridges To Understanding" (www.bridgesweb.org), with whom I volunteered as a grant writer this summer!On Mondays and Fridays I'm working on a book project with Phil called, "Stirring the Fire: Women Heroes from the Edge of the World." It will profile 25 women, mostly in developing countries, who've gone to heroic efforts to empower other women in 4 general areas: education, health, economics, and community involvement. For examples of Phil's portraits and other books, see this site: http://www.philborges.com/enduringspirit/esphoto00.html#
Anyway, the experience has just been wonderful...it's so satisfying to collaborate with someone who's passionate about what he's doing, and writing for me is just intrinsically rewarding! My work is basically to piece together the elements of each woman's story from various tapes, notes, and Phil's memory, and condense it into a 100-150 word profile to accompany each portrait.
It's been such a blast, and I feel incredibly lucky to be in a position to be paid to do what I love! In the past 2 years since college, I've been on a roll of asking anyone and everyone how she/he figured out "what to do with their life." One of the responses I got fairly frequently was to pursue something you love, and things will fall into place. I always rejected that strategy, believing it only applied to very lucky people. However, this experience has certainly been encouraging, and has inspired me to rethink my attitude! Perhaps I should go with the flow more? But then again, jobs with health insurance don't necessarily fall into place, do they?
At any rate, I've resolved to just enjoy the project and not worry too much about the future; tomorrow I have an interview at the Center for Human Development and Disability at the UW, where I'm very interested in working, and I'll continue to apply for jobs that spark my interest.
I'm keeping very busy with the writing and extra office work at the UWMC as well as finishing WEDDING plans this week, as my little sister's getting married in FIVE DAYS! It's insane!
Tonight we had some family time (Monday is my dad's day off, so we try to have dinner together) and conversed about what song my dad and Michelle should dance to at the wedding. We were trying to find the Dixie Chicks' "Landslide" but ended up accidently playing their version of the Lullaby "Godspeed," and we all agreed it was perfect...
We all bawled as my sister and dad danced around the kitchen in their PJs and socks...I just can't believe my baby sister is going to be a wife. We're not stressing too much about the wedding at this point - most of the nitty gritty work has been done - I think the magnitude of the event is just slowly hitting all of us. | posted by Cheryl, 3/20/2006 09:16:00 PM | 1 comments |
Random 2006 pics continued
After swing dancing for almost a year, i finally remembered to bring a camera to an event - this is of my friend Brian and I at the Portland Lindy Exchange a few weeks ago! The ballroom ("The Crystal Ballroom") had springs under the floors, it was amazing! There were dances not only from 8-12 (normal hours) but also from 12-6 am (crazy people hours!). I loved it. I danced so much, i literally dreamed of dancing every night!
| posted by Cheryl, 3/17/2006 02:15:00 AM
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2006 - random pictures
This is my sister and I at one of her 4 wedding showers - isn't she glowing?
| posted by Cheryl, 3/17/2006 02:13:00 AM
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Random Ramblings + a word on DORKS!
When you break up with a significant other, friends' reactions are often to the effect of, "Ooooooooh, i'm so sooorry, how are you doooooing?" I appreciate the concern, but I often feel compelled to present the less appreciated side of big transitions or just emotionally impactful situations, which is that they tend to inspire extremes of happiness as well as sadness.For the past half week since Suraj and I broke up, I've found myself primed for not only more teary moments that usual, but also more delight in the small opportunities for joy (the sun reflecting off the water as i drive over the floating bridge, the smile from an anonymous staff member at the hospital, my sister's glowing pre-wedding state).
Additionally, i would even venture to say there is a self-"honeymoon period" that occurrs after a break-up, where you feel more energized and empowered...it's hard to put my finger on why this happens...i think perhaps part of it comes from relieving the burden of trying to force a relationship that is starting to lose it's steam.
In my particular case, Suraj and I are lucky because we decided to quit when the relationship was still fairly good - this leaves me with no bitterness or resentment towards him. Also, it's helpful for both of us that we are completely disinterested in analyzing the relationship or questioning anything about the break-up. It was very simple: we felt it was running it's course and it was time to end, period (due partially to internal factors as well as external ones, such as his desire to travel and possibly move away), but we still love each other and see no reason not to attempt a transition into a healthy friendship.
Perhaps it's the aforementioned theory's effects, but when i read the following, i was absolutely in hysterics; it's the result from a silly online survey proporting to designate someone's degree of "dorkiness." Check out my result:
"There is basically no hope for you. You are the guy/girl that is constantly laughing at yourself. In fact, you’re probably doing it right now. You can’t listen to someone in conversation without trying to work over what they are saying in your head to come up with some sort of witty comment or a way to relate it to real life situations, sit coms or a movie you’ve seen at least 35 times.
You enjoy practicing responses to seem spontaneous and quirky, but the levels of effort and awareness of your own awkwardness are off the chart which places you in the Full-on end of the Dork Spectrum. I’d say that you should think more about what you say before you say it, but you’d probably just be thinking of something witty to say and not really listen anyway. My best advice is to find someone who is just as Dorky as you and hold on to them. You will never find a better match than with another Full-on."
YES! Say it loud, I'm a dork and proud :) | posted by Cheryl, 3/16/2006 12:14:00 PM | 0 comments |
How do you make love stay?
How do you make love stay?How do you make love stay?
How do you make love stay? | posted by Cheryl, 3/12/2006 07:00:00 AM | 1 comments |
