WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

March 31, 2010 (DVD rental)
 

 
I’ve never had the emotional connection to the Maurice Sendak book on which this film is based, but I was very impressed with the care that director Spike Jonze put into his version of Where the Wild Things Are… and that intrigued me. I made a special visit to Borders to familiarize myself with the book, and in those few moments I was smitten. Little Max drew me into his world of sadness and loneliness, and by the end of those too few pages I was overwhelmed with the full spectrum of emotion. And now that I’ve finally seen the film, I can barely phrase a proper description of its impact upon me. It is teeming with difficult emotions, with despair and anxiety and a desire to right all the wrongs in a young child’s life. For 100 minutes I was spellbound — riveted and saddened and sometimes a bit perplexed — but in the midst of it there was great beauty. Everything that was remarkable in the words on the page came alive in the film. And the little boy of the book was fully realized by one of the most remarkable young actors I’ve seen in a lifetime. It is his characterization alone that I take away with me. He broke my heart and then made it soar. In exactly the same way as the boy on the pages of the book.
 
image from Rotten Tomatoes

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birthday four-one

 
My birthday is most definitely my favorite time of the year, and I won’t accept that I am allowed only one day. Instead, I take one birthday and 30 unbirthdays to celebrate my birth month! This year was actually quite nice, almost every day of the month. My health improved from the dreadful February days, and my family and friends made the days fun and the gifts even greater. And though I spent almost every evening continuing work that couldn’t be accomplished during the days at the office, I never felt burdened by it. Rather, I’ve been very inspired lately, full of creative energy and overflowing with story ideas. I love that my birthday occurs on the cusp of spring. It always makes the transition from winter feel like a special event. This year has been just that.
 
click to enlarge
 
green laptop bag, purchased for myself with gift card from my boss
my 2009 posts in book form, compiled by my best good friend, the fabulous Cerella D Sechrist
iHome alarm clock, purchased with same gift card from office folk
the cutest little piggy bank on earth, from my nephews and sister and brother-in-law
a little birthday cake, lemon-raspberry butter cream, to be precise — another gift to myself

two lunches — one celebrated on the actual day with my friend Meredith and the other solo, using one of my many free birthday coupons
the coolest flatware I’ve ever seen, from my parents, who know how I’m enticed by bright and shiny things and how much I love circles and dots
 
There were a few other goodies, as well, including a nifty kitchen knife that I asked everyone in my family to gift me and some fun little trinkets from Cerella that just made every day special as I opened one at a time on the days leading to my actual birthday. But the best part of the entire month has been knowing how much I am loved and cherishing the fact that every single gift was thoughtful and personal to me.
 
Which is exactly what my birthday is meant to be.
 

#15 of 40 Things

 
For several years I’ve kept track of the films I see in theaters, but I’ve never kept track of every single film I see at the cinema, on television and on DVD. So I chose to do that in my 40th year, mostly from the curiosity of just how many movies I really do watch throughout a year. Last year wasn’t nearly as numerous as years before, but I love that I have an accurate accounting of my entertainment choices during a single year. And I loved doing this so much that I’ve continued it, keeping record of all movies and TV viewings every single day. It will either reveal me to be highly interesting (ha!) or even more quirky than I ever realized!
 

The 90(ish) Films I Watched in My 40th Year
300 (Starz)	Moonshot (TV)
(500) Days of Summer (DVD)	Mr and Mrs Loving (TV)
12 Monkeys (TV)	Mr and Mrs Smith (TV)
The Affair of the Necklace (Starz)	Murder on the Orient Express (TCM)
All the King’s Men (TCM)	Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (DVD)
Angels & Demons (PPV)	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (cinema)
Attraction (DVD)	On the Doll (DVD) Clayne Crawford scenes
The Blind Side (cinema)	Prince Caspian (DVD)
The Break-Up (TV)	Public Enemies (cinema)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (TCM)	Quantum of Solace (DVD)
Brick (Starz)	Rachel Getting Married (DVD)
Bright Young Things (Starz) abandoned	The Recruit (TV)
The Brothers Bloom (DVD)	Reds (TCM)
Burn After Reading (DVD)	Righteous Kill (Starz)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Starz)	A Room With a View (TCM)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (TV)	The Ruins (Starz)
Cadillac Records (DVD)	Secondhand Lions (TV)
Citizen Jane (Lifetime)	Serenity (TV)
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler	Slumdog Millionaire (DVD)
The Dark Knight (DVD)	Splendor in the Grass (TCM)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (DVD)	Star Trek (DVD)
Defiance (DVD)	State of Play (DVD)
District 9 (DVD)	Steal This Movie (Starz)
Doctor Zhivago (2002) (TV)	Steel City (DVD)
Double Indemnity (TCM)	Step Brothers (Starz)
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (TCM)	Sunshine Cleaning (DVD)
The Education of Little Tree (Starz)	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Showtime)
Evil Remains (DVD) Clayne Crawford scenes	Sweet Bird of Youth (TCM)
False Prophets (DVD)	Taxi (TV) Christian Kane scenes
For Your Consideration (Starz)	Terminator Salvation (cinema)
Friday Night Lights (TV)	The Great Raid (TV)
Gone in 60 Seconds (TV)	The Thing Called Love (VHS) yes, VHS!
Gossip (HBO)	Toy Story / Toy Story 2 3D Double Feature (cinema)
Grey Gardens (HBO)	Trouble the Water (HBO)
Hide (DVD) twice	Unknown (DVD)
How to Make an American Quilt (TV) Samantha Mathis scenes	UP (cinema +once again on DVD)
Howard’s End (TCM)	Up in the Air (cinema)
The Jane Austen Book Club (Starz) Marc Blucas scenes	A Very Long Engagement (Starz)
Julie & Julia (cinema)	We Own the Night (Starz)
Just Married (TV) Christian Kane scenes	When the Levees Broke — Acts I and II (HBO)
Leatherheads (Starz) John Krasinski scenes	The Wind That Shakes the Barley (Starz)
Like or Something Like It (TV)	The Wrestler (DVD)
Little Women (Starz) Samantha Mathis and Christian Bale scenes	Wristcutters (DVD) Clayne Crawford scenes
A Love Song for Bobby Long (IFC) Clayne Crawford scenes	X-Men: The Last Stand (TV)
Lucky You (Starz) abandoned	Xs & Os (DVD)
Made of Honor (Starz) Kevin McKidd scenes

 

go ahead. tell those stories.

 

You are extraordinary. I hope you know it.
 
You have a very unique life with unique experiences.
 
What you deem to be “mundane” is actually
quite interesting in the context of your whole life.
 
I hope you’re celebrating these
little slices of your life by documenting them.
 
Photos + Words.
 
Becky Higgins (adapted)

 

a week in this life: Saturday

 

 
I had all kinds of plans to finally clean my flat today, to finally take down the layers of dust and piles of stuff. But it’s still March, and our trip season is still in full swing, which means I had more work to accomplish on yet another Saturday. Couple that with a week of icky stomach irritation and this day just didn’t happen as planned. Instead, I quickly reached the Pajama Point of No Return. But good things did come from that: the work got done and my Google Reader stands empty.
 
This week… things were accomplished, though not the things I hoped.
This week… ended much the same way it began.
This week… has been, more or less, a typical snapshot of my life.
 
In all its mundane glory.