Pivotal pics

Brianna and her boyfriend, David, came for dinner Sunday and conversation turned, as it often does, to movies -- what we've seen, what we can't wait to see, movies we've loved, movies we were scared by. Because David is a relative newcomer to the family, our movie mania probably made it seem like we all do nothing but watch movies. We do other things ... occasionally ... but movies are a large part of who we are.

Since that dinner conversation, I've been thinking about how movies really are a big part of my life, have often helped form the person I am.

In that vein, I've come up with a list of movies that have had great impact on my life ... so far:

Lisa's 12 Pivotal Films

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1965) -- Not a theatrical release but a made-for-television production that aired each Thanksgiving for many years so, to me, it signalled the beginning of the holiday season. It's the first show I remember being my escape from the turmoil we called family, especially as it reached fever pitch during the holidays. It also may be responsible for my obsession with chairs; I've collected lots and lots of chairs in my house in search of THE one to go with the lyrics "in my own little corner in my own little chair ...".

The Birds (1963) -- Scared the hell out of me as a child and set the bar for my lifelong taste in scary movies: lots of suspense with minimal gore.

Doctor Zhivago (1965) -- Omar Shariff ... need I say more? Except that this one set the bar for my taste in romance films: heartbreak, heartbreak and more heartbreak.

A Star is Born (1976) -- The first movie I wanted to see again and again and again. It also was the first movie to which I bought the soundtrack ... and was deeply disappointed upon learning that movie soundtracks didn't include the dialogue. I loved (loved!) the songs, but had hoped to relive the film again and again as if listening to a radio production.

The Elephant Man (1980) -- I saw this film as part of a psychology class field trip. The teacher, Mr. Marr, was the man I admired most in the whole entire world at that point. After the movie, Mr. Marr cried in front of the class as he lamented the horrors endured by John Merrick, most of which were inflicted by society. Mr. Marr's tears were my first lesson in what true empathy looks like.

Christianne F. [Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo] (1981) -- It was my turn to pick the movie for girls' night out and I picked a gloomy foreign flick about a teen drug addict living in Berlin. My first subtitled movie ... and the last time I got to pick the movie for girls' night out. I still enjoy offbeat foreign films.

The Big Chill (1983) -- I was recently married and scared and disillusioned about being a grown up. This film made it clear that everyone is scared and disillusioned about being a grown up ... and that it all works out okay if you've got the right soundtrack.

Terms of Endearment (1983) -- Shirley MacLaine begging for pain meds for Debra Winger ... Debra Winger saying goodbye to her sons ... . Oh. My. Gosh! Motherhood at its most heart wrenching.

The English Patient (1996) -- Affected me much like Doctor Zhivago, only this time I was an adult -- and still a fan of heartbreak, heartbreak, and more heartbreak. Plus, Ralph Fiennes ... need I say more?

Boys Don't Cry (1999) -- This absolutely broke my heart, so much so that I was impelled to make my girls watch it. They really probably weren't old enough for its graphic violence and theme but I wanted them to see what sheer hate can do in hopes of warning them against ever associating with anyone carrying -- and acting upon -- such hate.

Amelie (2001) -- Brought the realization that foreign films aren't just gloom and doom but can be light and lovely. Also, the first subtitled film I made the girls watch ... and they adored it (which redeemed me a bit for the forced viewing of "Boys Don't Cry").

Moulin Rouge (2001) -- The only movie that, as an adult, I watched again and again ... in a row ... in one weekend. Four times in one weekend, to be exact. I thought I was a much more seasoned film-goer than that. But with heartbreak, heartbreak, and more heartbreak plus song and dance, how could I possibly resist?

Today's question:

What are some of your pivotal films?

Photo replay

Watching trucks, March 17, 2010

Today's question:

What's one goal you have for this coming week?

My answer: To complete revisions on my picture book and get it sent back to a potential agent.

Wonder dog

I'm an overprotective mother with an overactive imagination to match. As time marches on, I've also become an overprotective grandma with little to no change in the activity level of my imagination.

I've always worried about the typical hazards of childhood: SIDS, falling down stairs, falling off bikes, choking on hot dogs or grapes that haven't been cut into appropriately sized pieces. In fact, one of my first posts here on Grandma's Briefs was about recent stats on televisions falling on kids.

But I worry even more about the uncommon, bizarre things that could befall little ones. Things like being trampled by elephants at the circus. Or scarves getting caught in bicycle, motorcycle or automobile wheels a la Isadora Duncan. Or meteors or airplanes falling out of the sky directly onto one's house. Or diseases that are the stuff of Stephen King novels and afflict only 1 in 3 trillion people. Yeah, chances are your child won't be afflicted. But what if your baby is that unlucky one?

A friend of mine used to think I was nuts. I'd ask if she'd heard about this scary statistic or that bizarre news story and she'd "tsk, tsk" and shake her head at her crazy older friend obsessed with danger. Then she had kids. And now she understands my obsession with all the possibilities lurking out there, possibilities just waiting to maim or do worse to loved ones.

I truly thought I knew of all those possibilities ... or at least knew to worry about the possibilities I didn't know of. But Megan recently shared a new one that never even crossed my mind. One that has me on edge and freaking out a little concerned about the safety of my Bubby. It's one of those that falls under the heading of Scary Stuff That Happens To Only One in Three Trillion People -- and it happened to Megan and Bubby.

The other night, Megan was innocently enough grilling chicken on the patio. Bubby and Roxy were playing in the yard, doing typical boy-and-his-best-friend stuff. Until Roxy heard something that piqued her interest and she dashed off to bark at whomever or whatever it was on the trail. She dashed off so fast and furious that she shot rocks across the rock-landscaped backyard. Shot them so hard that one whizzed into the sliding glass door and busted it. The outer pane of the double-paned door totally, completely and instantly became the most beautifully rendered crackle-glass door ever. A now crazy-paned door right in the area my grandson -- and my daughter -- had stood just moments before.

Scary and dangerous and bizarre and all those other things, wouldn't you say?

What's even scarier is that the glass repair guy is booked for several days and unable to repair the door anytime soon. Which leaves just off Bubby's kitchen a broken glass door with the potential to, at any moment, shatter and send life-endangering pieces of glass everywhere.

And leaving -- despite Megan's adamant proclamations that Bubby can't get to it -- Bubby in danger.

Which leaves me in a tizzy.

It also leaves me wondering if Bubby needs to say goodbye to his little friend. A dog able to spin out so quickly that its paws shoot out deadly bullet-like rocks creates a whole 'nother set of dangerous possibilities.

Possibilities I'd really rather not have to worry about.

Today's question:

What's one of your more irrational fears/worries/concerns?

My answer: I worry that I'll finally win Publishers Clearing House and the Prize Patrol will show up at my door at a time I've not yet taken a shower, forcing me to decide if I want the money badly enough to be seen on national television in my jammies, with wild hair and no makeup. What? It could happen!

This post linked to Grandparent's Say It Saturday.

How I compute: then and now

My computer has become a sinking ship and this week I started frantically trying to rescue what I could from it before it's totally sunk. The lifeboat in which I'm transferring my bits and bytes: a laptop, my first laptop ever.

I purchased my now-dying desktop in 2004. It's been a good six years, with lots and lots and LOTS of changes, not only in computing but in my life. Those changes are evident in the way I spend my time on the computer, then versus now.

Then

Here's how I spent most of my computer time in 2004:

• Reading parenting, entertainment and news articles.

• Writing parenting articles ... for print publications.

• Keeping tabs on my middle and youngest daughters who were 539 miles away at college, via MySpace, chatting and e-mail.

• Regularly accessing the Occupational Outlook Handbook to help my youngest daughter figure out what degree/career to pursue.

• Playing computer games: Mahjong, You Don't Know Jack, Wheel of Fortune.

Now

Here's how I now spend most of my time on the computer:

• Blogging about my grandson.

• Researching ways to improve the blogging about my grandson.

• Reading other blogs -- 52 subscriptions in my RSS Reader.

• Looking for work, freelance or otherwise.

• Wasting timePromoting my blog on Facebook and now Twitter.

Good thing my shiny new laptop has a pretty darn good graphics card because by the looks of this comparison, I've become blog-obsessed, boring and in need of a game or two.

Or maybe, just maybe, what I really need is to step away from the computer and appreciate the aspects of my life not measured in bits, bytes and Google page ranks.

Which I'll definitely do -- after I get my shiny new laptop all set up and ready for blogging.

Today's question:

How do you spend the majority of your time on the computer?

The next Grilled Grandma

This week's Grilled Grandma, Susan, spends more time thinking about grandparenting duties than any grandma I know. That's because she's the About.com Guide to Grandparents and seriously works that role, dispensing all things "grandparent" to the many followers of the site.

As busy as she is, I'm sincerely grateful Susan took the time for a grilling. For one thing, her responses introduced me to something all grandmas should know about: Bananagrams. What are Bananagrams? I had the same question when she mentioned it as one of the things she likes to do with her grandkids. So I googled it and THIS is what I found. I so cannot wait until Bubby can Bananagram with me!

On a more serious note, Susan touched my heart with her wish for what she hopes to pass down to her grandchildren: "I want my grandchildren to be generous souls who care about others, who are open-minded, who stand up against bigotry and demagoguery and greed." The words of a truly kind and wise grandma.

Read about banangrams and more in Susan's grilling, which you'll find right HERE.

Today's question:

What is your favorite fruit ... excluding Bananagrams?

My answer: Raspberries -- on their own, in jam, mixed in a fruit salad, topping sweet cream ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery! Mmmmm....!