Last night, I was doing a little work on my sewing machine. Lucy became very interested and came in to watch. She asked what I was doing and what "that" (the sewing machine) was, and then we had this exchange:
Lucy: I want to work the machine
Me: Sorry honey, you're too small. I'll teach you how to work it when you're a big girl.
Lucy: Make me big!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Snow
If you've driven by our house lately and had trouble finding it, it may be because there is a giant pile of snow in front of our house. The house next door (to the left as you look at this picture) is a rental unit, and the owner comes by during every snowstorm and plows his tenant's driveways. He also, very kindly plows ours if it's empty, or if he sees us shoveling ourselves out. He typically just shoves all the snow from the driveways into this enormous pile, which has been sitting in front of our house for about a month now. Who knows if it will ever melt. Oh, and it's snowing right now. Sigh. It's only January. There is a lot of winter left.
Welcome, Luke William Marshall
Lucy has a new cousin! Hooray! Pictures forthcoming, no doubt, but for now, vital stats:
11:45 am
8 pounds, 8 ounces
20 3/4 inches
Congratulations to all!
Here is a link to Brendan & Jennifer & Luke's Flickr page.
11:45 am
8 pounds, 8 ounces
20 3/4 inches
Congratulations to all!
Here is a link to Brendan & Jennifer & Luke's Flickr page.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Anticipation
The 83 Durant extended family will be getting a bit larger very soon. Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Brendan's baby should be arriving tomorrow (Monday)! We can't wait to meet him or her (or should we just go ahead and say Luke or Leia?). Good luck and love to you from all of us here!
This has me wanting to make a brief public service announcement here: Brendan works for the American Red Cross (testing blood and managing blood-borne disease tracking) and we'd like to suggest to folks that if they can, make a donation to the Red Cross's relief efforts in Haiti. Here's a link to the Red Cross site.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend; we'll update the blog when we get the news!
This has me wanting to make a brief public service announcement here: Brendan works for the American Red Cross (testing blood and managing blood-borne disease tracking) and we'd like to suggest to folks that if they can, make a donation to the Red Cross's relief efforts in Haiti. Here's a link to the Red Cross site.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend; we'll update the blog when we get the news!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Things We'd Like to Change
This is the first installment of a new series called "Things We'd Like to Change," in which we tell you about things that are old/ugly/odd in our house that we'd like to replace or fix. Today's feature focuses on our couch. Here it is:
We have had this couch for I'd guess about 6 years. We inherited this couch from some other grad students (when we were also grad students). This is the sort of thing we all do when we're grad students. It's actually a reasonably comfortable couch, but it's in pretty rough shape. It is currently covered by its third slipcover (from Target), which makes it look a lot better. The quilt on the back of it (made by Michele and we love it!) also helps distract you from the otherwise ugliness of the thing. Underneath those beige stripes, it's a deep burgundy fuzzy fabric with lots of spots and stains and the like.
Back when we finished fixing up the (formerly pink, but now) blue room, we decided it was time to buy a new couch. But we have some problems making decisions. And some problems going shopping. So we need to just pick one and buy it already.
Here is one possibility:
Here is another:
Here is a third:
And here is just one more:
Readers, would you like to vote* for our future couch?
* Votes are non-binding upon us. Also, we seriously ARE considering one of these couches (should be obvious which one) and would be interested to hear your feedback
We have had this couch for I'd guess about 6 years. We inherited this couch from some other grad students (when we were also grad students). This is the sort of thing we all do when we're grad students. It's actually a reasonably comfortable couch, but it's in pretty rough shape. It is currently covered by its third slipcover (from Target), which makes it look a lot better. The quilt on the back of it (made by Michele and we love it!) also helps distract you from the otherwise ugliness of the thing. Underneath those beige stripes, it's a deep burgundy fuzzy fabric with lots of spots and stains and the like.Back when we finished fixing up the (formerly pink, but now) blue room, we decided it was time to buy a new couch. But we have some problems making decisions. And some problems going shopping. So we need to just pick one and buy it already.
Here is one possibility:
Here is another:
Here is a third:
And here is just one more:
Readers, would you like to vote* for our future couch?
* Votes are non-binding upon us. Also, we seriously ARE considering one of these couches (should be obvious which one) and would be interested to hear your feedback
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Words & Pictures
Longtime readers may remember that I've been working on my (academic) manuscript, which I turned in (with much trepidation) last fall. If not, you can get the background here:
http://83durant.blogspot.com/2009/09/printing-in-process.html
A week ago, I got very good news on that front: my book has passed the clearance review! I have a few targeted areas of revision and some tidying up to do, but I should be able to get that done (I think) in about a month. There is one other big task I need to do, and that's why I'm writing today: I need to find a cover image.
Here's a word cloud that will give a sense of some key themes of my book (you can click on the image to make it bigger):
I'm not going to put the title here, because then this page will pop up when people look up the title, which is not really the first thing I want them to see. But basically, it's a study of gothic novels (Caleb Williams, Frankenstein, Edgar Huntly, and The Bondwoman's Narrative) and how they portray the justice system. The cover will be a fairly boring academic one with the title in a plain font, and then an image in the middle. Typically this press's books feature historical images, and I'm sort of imagining some kind of old illustration of a courtroom or a prison or something like that. If you, dear readers, have suggestions, please let me know. If you happen to have a fabulous photograph of some legal or judicial building (particularly an old one in London or the UK more generally) that might be a possibility, too. Links to good sources, or suggestions for images are very much welcome.
http://83durant.blogspot.com/2009/09/printing-in-process.html
A week ago, I got very good news on that front: my book has passed the clearance review! I have a few targeted areas of revision and some tidying up to do, but I should be able to get that done (I think) in about a month. There is one other big task I need to do, and that's why I'm writing today: I need to find a cover image.
Here's a word cloud that will give a sense of some key themes of my book (you can click on the image to make it bigger):
I'm not going to put the title here, because then this page will pop up when people look up the title, which is not really the first thing I want them to see. But basically, it's a study of gothic novels (Caleb Williams, Frankenstein, Edgar Huntly, and The Bondwoman's Narrative) and how they portray the justice system. The cover will be a fairly boring academic one with the title in a plain font, and then an image in the middle. Typically this press's books feature historical images, and I'm sort of imagining some kind of old illustration of a courtroom or a prison or something like that. If you, dear readers, have suggestions, please let me know. If you happen to have a fabulous photograph of some legal or judicial building (particularly an old one in London or the UK more generally) that might be a possibility, too. Links to good sources, or suggestions for images are very much welcome.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Public Service Movie Review
We’ve never done this before at 83 Durant, but it’s a new year, and I’m trying to write more. Also, I’m feeling like I’m on a bit of a mission: I need to save those of you still savable from seeing Avatar.
On Tuesday, we went to see the film at Jordan’s Furniture. Non-local readers may find themselves wondering how exactly we saw a movie at a furniture store. Jordan’s bills itself as “Not Just a Store: An Experience.” To provide that “experience,” two of its locations feature Imax Theaters. The Reading store (where we were) also features a trapeze school and a “Liquid Fireworks” display. As the trailer before the film explains, the two Jordan’s Furniture IMaxes are the only places IN THE WORLD where you can watch Imax from the comfort of a custom-made, Tempur-Pedic seat. I was incredibly grateful for that comfortable (though disconcertingly warm) seat, as the movie is 170 minutes long. We saw it in IMAX 3-D so we would be sure not to miss any of the much-touted amazing effects of this spectacle.
This movie is not good.
Yes, it’s an amazing technological feat. But there are many advances in technology that produce dumb, useless, and pointless things. The movie’s not all bad, but seriously, it does not deserve the kind of over-the-top praise I’ve been hearing. Herewith, then, some thoughts:
This was a $500 million film and apparently had very little budget for actual writers? OK, you’ve seen James Cameron movies. You know what to expect. It’s a thriller/sci-fi film, so I know I’m not there for the dialogue. But seriously, there were many, many times when I had to willfully ignore the talking so as to attempt to return to the fantasy world. The lines weren’t just clunkers. They were clunkers that dragged down perfectly fine moments.
Unfortunately, these lovely things are given ridiculous back-stories. For instance, the pretty awesome airborne jellyfish are “sacred seeds” of some sacred tree yada yada yada. It’s like Midichlorians all over again.
The first act introduces crazy fire power on the human side and super-scary flora and fauna on the Pandora side. We see all these dangerous things laid out, and it’s pretty obvious that the movie is heading for an epic battle between the two. But after the superior power of the technology is made clear, the Pandorians don’t seem to do anything to prepare for battle, other than yelling all Braveheart-like. I can’t believe he said this, but I totally agree with Jake (the other half of 83 Durant, NOT the “Jake” character in the movie) who said after the movie: “they needed some Ewok action.” No, we’re not endorsing Ewoks, but it’s true that what we needed to see was the Pandorians doing something, like setting up traps or laying out some kind of insurgency plan. Instead, after the attack begins, they just reveal that their flying dragon creatures can take out the flying warcrafts. Really? When exactly did they figure out how to do that?
You may be excited to know that golf is still a pastime in the year 2154 (when Avatar is set). We know this because the evil corporate-type guy is seen putting in the middle of the war room. This sort of behavior is movie shorthand for “this guy is a jerk.” Additionally, the activity provides the opportunity for a gratuitous 3-D shot, which impresses no one. The 3-D thing is cool, but there seemed to be way too much here that was done just because it looked cool. I imagine that by the real year 2154 (and even sooner) this coolness is going to look woefully lame.
The evil corporate type reveals that the thing the evil corporations are looking for is called “Unobtainium.” I am not kidding. “Unobtanium” is the word writers throw into a script to be replaced later by the real name of the unobtainable, highly desirable item. Did no one at any point in the development of the film, not stop and say, uh, we should probably get a real fake name in here rather than this fake fake name?
Sigourney Weaver is certainly a high point of the film; she’s a scientist, and it’s nice to see that they actually chose someone who might, you know, be old enough to be a scientist. I also thought it was nice to see someone smoking on screen again (aside from villains, people in movies don’t smoke anymore). But then, as Jake reminded me, we don’t actually SEE her smoking. She’s all cranky and demanding a cigarette after being woken from her years of cryogenic sleep, but we don’t see her smoking; she just carries the thing around. It’s curious.
All the reviews keep pronouncing on the “spectacle” of the film. I’ll accept that, but other than amazement at how they developed these stunning special effects, what am I supposed to take away from that? There’s spectacle and crazy effects everywhere. I can go to the New England Aquarium and stare at jellyfish. I can walk out into the lobby of Jordan’s and see their “Liquid Fireworks” display. I don’t want to do any of these things for 170 minutes.
I made the unfortunate choice to click on this story at CNN on the evening before seeing the film: “Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ Blues.” The CNN piece cites an individual named “Ivar Hill,” who wrote in an online Avatar forum:
"When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning"
From this and other postings on various Avatar fan boards, CNN claims that this is a serious issue of concern; they suggest that the amazing effects make the world of Pandora so real, that some viewers experience “separation anxiety” (their words). While I was indeed depressed after seeing the movie, it was mostly because we had paid for a babysitter (in addition to admission to the film) and that was time sorely wasted on this bungling behemoth of a film.
The whole article ends with this:
Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing "Avatar" video games or downloading the movie soundtrack...
At this point, I have to think that this whole story is a plant – clearly the solution to your sadness is to go pay another $12.50 to see the film, then purchase assorted film tie-ins. After all, Cameron needs to make back that $500 million he spent, right?
I have many other meandering thoughts about this movie, but really, I have other writing I should be doing. Thanks for reading.
On Tuesday, we went to see the film at Jordan’s Furniture. Non-local readers may find themselves wondering how exactly we saw a movie at a furniture store. Jordan’s bills itself as “Not Just a Store: An Experience.” To provide that “experience,” two of its locations feature Imax Theaters. The Reading store (where we were) also features a trapeze school and a “Liquid Fireworks” display. As the trailer before the film explains, the two Jordan’s Furniture IMaxes are the only places IN THE WORLD where you can watch Imax from the comfort of a custom-made, Tempur-Pedic seat. I was incredibly grateful for that comfortable (though disconcertingly warm) seat, as the movie is 170 minutes long. We saw it in IMAX 3-D so we would be sure not to miss any of the much-touted amazing effects of this spectacle.
This movie is not good.
Yes, it’s an amazing technological feat. But there are many advances in technology that produce dumb, useless, and pointless things. The movie’s not all bad, but seriously, it does not deserve the kind of over-the-top praise I’ve been hearing. Herewith, then, some thoughts:
This was a $500 million film and apparently had very little budget for actual writers? OK, you’ve seen James Cameron movies. You know what to expect. It’s a thriller/sci-fi film, so I know I’m not there for the dialogue. But seriously, there were many, many times when I had to willfully ignore the talking so as to attempt to return to the fantasy world. The lines weren’t just clunkers. They were clunkers that dragged down perfectly fine moments.
Unfortunately, these lovely things are given ridiculous back-stories. For instance, the pretty awesome airborne jellyfish are “sacred seeds” of some sacred tree yada yada yada. It’s like Midichlorians all over again.
The first act introduces crazy fire power on the human side and super-scary flora and fauna on the Pandora side. We see all these dangerous things laid out, and it’s pretty obvious that the movie is heading for an epic battle between the two. But after the superior power of the technology is made clear, the Pandorians don’t seem to do anything to prepare for battle, other than yelling all Braveheart-like. I can’t believe he said this, but I totally agree with Jake (the other half of 83 Durant, NOT the “Jake” character in the movie) who said after the movie: “they needed some Ewok action.” No, we’re not endorsing Ewoks, but it’s true that what we needed to see was the Pandorians doing something, like setting up traps or laying out some kind of insurgency plan. Instead, after the attack begins, they just reveal that their flying dragon creatures can take out the flying warcrafts. Really? When exactly did they figure out how to do that?
You may be excited to know that golf is still a pastime in the year 2154 (when Avatar is set). We know this because the evil corporate-type guy is seen putting in the middle of the war room. This sort of behavior is movie shorthand for “this guy is a jerk.” Additionally, the activity provides the opportunity for a gratuitous 3-D shot, which impresses no one. The 3-D thing is cool, but there seemed to be way too much here that was done just because it looked cool. I imagine that by the real year 2154 (and even sooner) this coolness is going to look woefully lame.
The evil corporate type reveals that the thing the evil corporations are looking for is called “Unobtainium.” I am not kidding. “Unobtanium” is the word writers throw into a script to be replaced later by the real name of the unobtainable, highly desirable item. Did no one at any point in the development of the film, not stop and say, uh, we should probably get a real fake name in here rather than this fake fake name?
Sigourney Weaver is certainly a high point of the film; she’s a scientist, and it’s nice to see that they actually chose someone who might, you know, be old enough to be a scientist. I also thought it was nice to see someone smoking on screen again (aside from villains, people in movies don’t smoke anymore). But then, as Jake reminded me, we don’t actually SEE her smoking. She’s all cranky and demanding a cigarette after being woken from her years of cryogenic sleep, but we don’t see her smoking; she just carries the thing around. It’s curious.
All the reviews keep pronouncing on the “spectacle” of the film. I’ll accept that, but other than amazement at how they developed these stunning special effects, what am I supposed to take away from that? There’s spectacle and crazy effects everywhere. I can go to the New England Aquarium and stare at jellyfish. I can walk out into the lobby of Jordan’s and see their “Liquid Fireworks” display. I don’t want to do any of these things for 170 minutes.
I made the unfortunate choice to click on this story at CNN on the evening before seeing the film: “Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ Blues.” The CNN piece cites an individual named “Ivar Hill,” who wrote in an online Avatar forum:
"When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning"
From this and other postings on various Avatar fan boards, CNN claims that this is a serious issue of concern; they suggest that the amazing effects make the world of Pandora so real, that some viewers experience “separation anxiety” (their words). While I was indeed depressed after seeing the movie, it was mostly because we had paid for a babysitter (in addition to admission to the film) and that was time sorely wasted on this bungling behemoth of a film.
The whole article ends with this:
Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing "Avatar" video games or downloading the movie soundtrack...
At this point, I have to think that this whole story is a plant – clearly the solution to your sadness is to go pay another $12.50 to see the film, then purchase assorted film tie-ins. After all, Cameron needs to make back that $500 million he spent, right?
I have many other meandering thoughts about this movie, but really, I have other writing I should be doing. Thanks for reading.
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