Movie Review Monday: Dark Knight Rises

Miracle of miracles, Manny and I got to see a second movie in a theater this calendar year ! Thanks, Sissy, (that's my "Sissy," Lauren, btw, not Jenna, who is most often referred to as such on this blog) for pushing me to get the babysitter and go for it, and for paying for the babysitter to boot! I feel like I'll need to watch it a few more times to really appreciate it, but here are some of my current thoughts:

I'm a huge fan, so no disrespect, but Joseph Gordon Levitt finally looks like he aged past 11. Congratulations on graduating from puberty Jo! ;) He was so great in this film.

image taken from here

Speaking of looking old, I rather like how old they made Christian Bale out to be for this role. Having ogled him since Newsies, it was a little shocking to see him look all wrinkly, but I think his having joint pain and reclusive tendencies really helped humanize him and expand on the theme of "anyone can be Batman."

image taken from here

I was embarrassed by how giddy the boy-toys in this film made me feel. They were just cool. Batman's new "not a car" looks like some sort of flying cockroach.

image taken from here

The Dark Knight was going to be pretty near impossible to follow, and when I saw trailers with Anne Hathaway, I got a sour feeling in my stomach that disappointment was going to be inevitable. But she actually fit into the role quite nicely and really enhanced the film, rather than totally detracting from it as Katie Holmes had in Batman Begins. Ugh. I'm still mad at Katie for that one. Way to go, Anne!

There is a twist towards the end that I felt like I should have been able to see coming, but it still managed to totally catch me off guard. Instead of humanizing the villains in the slightly more obvious way as he did in the Dark Knight, Nolan kind of went around through the back door this time, and it surprised me with such punch that I could not hold back tears. Impressive.

Debatably cheesy one-liners abounded. I look forward to watching this a few more times to really appreciate a few of them though. The only one I was able to hold onto was,

"This only gets fixed from inside the city."

I thought that was a great picture for those of us who aim to be "helpers," thinking we can disregard the strengths or desires of the person or people we're aiming to help. On individual, group, and large scale levels, change must be born from within. 

My mother-in-law recently shared some wise advice with me about parenting. She had read that "parents don't actually want what is best for you, they want what is safest for you." Wo. That cuts to the quick. As a parent now myself, one of my hardest jobs is relinquishing the desire to be a constant safety net. And it is amazing what my child, and I myself, can do when we have to rise ;) to the occasion. I don't want to give too much away in case you haven't already seen the film, but I do think it illustrated something of this point in a poignant way.

Not quite so shockingly amazing as Dark Knight, but completely entertaining and worthwhile. He had a few rough starts in his career, but after this one, I decided, as a rule, I will just have to see all Christopher Nolan films made into the future. I must also note that it sure seems like he's found his preferred cast. So it still gets 2 claws up from me. Have you see it, Lobsters? What did you think?

Sabbath Sunday: Happy Mothers' Day!

Happy Mothers' Day, Lobsters!

I hope you are all doing something lovely for your own mothers today! And for those of you who are yourselves mothers, I hope you are feeling loved and appreciated today. I for one, am grateful for what you do to care for your little ones. Even if I do not know you, the love you give your child will make the world my child grows up in a better place, and for that I thank you.

In particular, I must issue a note of gratitude to my own mother for her decades of love and care for me and my baby sister. Even though we are no longer little, she cares for us just the same. For example, in a period of twelve months, she is going to have helped our family execute five moves [us, herself, both her parents and in-laws, and my sister - a big year of transition for our family!]. That's just ridiculous! 

I found this picture of the three of us on the back porch of the house I grew up in and I can't stop looking at it because it makes me feel so happy. Mom, there's no way to properly thank you for giving me such beautiful memories. Thank you for bringing me into the world with such joy. I love you! 

I also want to thank my mom! Mama, you are fun (please see photo 1 for evidence), beautiful (please see photo 2), creative (please see blog post you wrote earlier this week), intelligent (please see photo 3...wait, nevermind, just trust me on this one), generous (please see me living in your house again next month), and loving. You are my dear friend, and I love you to bitsies. I can't wait to hang out with you in just 17 days!

JUMPING! (What you lack in springiness you make up for in jazzy hands.)

In case you've forgotten, these are our beautiful supermodel poses.

You're welcome for this.

 Happy Mother's Day!

Why traveling with a toddler might be worth it

Santa Baby.

Ok, I got my ranting out of my system last week. Traveling with Sofia after she's learned to walk was not the most fun. But the point wasn't to spend the holidays on planes or on the phone with customer service, the point was to be with family, as long distance as they all may be. And that mission was definitely accomplished. Here are a few snapshots of why all that trouble might have been worth it:

Sofia gets to play with cousin Gus. Much love.

Sofia learns to play patty-cake with great-grandmother, Gee.

Sofia getting a blocks building lesson
from carpenter great-grandfather, Daddoo.

Sofia in intense study of pretty bells with great-grandmother, Grammy.

Sofia entertains the man (great-grandfather, Grandpa)
who supposedly never wants anything to do with babies.

Yep - count 'em, that's four great-grandparents Sofia got to bond with. Pretty blessed aren't we?

Sofia wearing one of four Christmas outfits
for one of four Christmas gatherings.

A glittery birthday lunch. 

Wintery walk with Big and Big Mama.

Quiet reading of "I like you" by Auntie Nina (Lauren). 

Cousin Eric teaching Sofia how to blow out birthday candles.

Birthday fro-yo.

Amazing birthday decor, made by Auntie Nina with so much love.

Gobbling Texas-sheet-birthday-cake, expertly made by Auntie Nina.

Office tour by Grandma.

To sum it up, that's four great-grandparents, four grandparents, one aunt, one uncle, two cousins, four Christmas gatherings, four birthday celebrations, four cities, seven planes, and one very happy and blessed baby girl.

My Hero

Imagine for me, if you will, four children, two girls (one ~5, the other ~2 years old) and two boys (same ages). It's a warm summer day. The girls are entering the boys' back yard, where they are filling up a little swimming pool in the yard with a hose. The little girl steps right into the kiddie pool, quietly watching the rest of the kids play. The older girl is a bit more hesitant. She's seen what little boys are all about and she is not so ready to trust that this is a good scene.

Sure enough, the older little boy, who is apparently hyped up on pounds of sugar/caffeine/maybe something a little illegal? grabs the water hose and is dancing around in and out of the pool, screaming like a banshee, flailing his arms around and generally launching full scale attack on the older girl. Water is spraying in her face, which is also occasionally getting smacked by the hose itself or his arms/hands/feet. The sound of his screeching voice assaults her ears and she simply does not know how to respond to this offense.

Having barely put one toe into the pool, she promptly stomps right out of it, stands on the edge, crosses her arms under her arm pits in a defiant "hurumph!" and launches a furious scowl in his direction. Needless to say, the scowl does very little to slow down this possessed creature who seems capable of occupying a multiplicity of spaces at once, coming at the helpless pouter from every angle. Every now and then she ads a shake of her head to emphasize the scowl, an extra "humph" to her crossed arms, an occasional little stomp of her foot, but nothing phases him, even as the frizz in her hair grows to an unsightly scale. The spray of water gets broader, the cacophony from his lungs gets louder and more shrill, this loop of chaos and perturbedness [yes i did just make up this word] may go on into infinity. It seems that there is no hope for the helpless little bathing beauty.

But lo! We have forgotten. In the background is the younger girl. Younger, smaller, and completely forgotten to this rampant bully, she is seemingly inconsequential. But no. As his frantic movements have caused him to move on from his firm grip on the hose, the little girl calmly takes hold of her opportunity. She picks that hose up, she fixes him in her sights, and she sprays that boy like he is chipped paint that needs to be power washed off the side of an old house. Without an ounce of malice, there is nothing but delight in her eyes as david-et chases off goliath, and his crony. She doesn't stop until he is entirely out of the picture, and she celebrates her triumph with an exuberant and joy filled laugh that arches her back and brings out the worlds most adorable dimples.

Very slowly, the arms come uncrossed, the scowl softens into a pleased little grimace, and ever so gracefully the older, more helpless and irritable sister steps lightly into the pool where she and her more heroic sister can now safely enjoy an afternoon in the sun.

And Scene.

This is my best attempt at narrating a clip from some home videos of my sister and I we got to watch together as a family over Thanksgiving break. I can not do it justice. I have to say, the real thing left us literally rolling on the floor. I do not know how Sofia stayed asleep through all that laughter.

I was humbled by this little scene, how much better she handled that creep than I did. It gave me the most exhilarating sense of triumph of good over evil, over having been protected and rescued. Power and grace and laughter all wrapped up into one very little person. That little person has grown into a gorgeous, thoughtful, talented, smart and successful young woman. She has grown into one of the very best friends I ever could have wished for. I am so grateful for her and want to wish her the happiest of birthdays today!

I love you Sissy/Mine Tonight/Coffee/Aunt Nina/Laur Bear/Ta La/Lauren Noelle Stewart!

Snapshot Saturday #14: lil Sis

This is my little sister, Lauren. I always have to emphasize the "little" because she's five inches taller than me so I always have to work extra hard to assure people that I'm older. In this pic, she is at what she considers her worst. Not bad for her worst, eh? I love how dynamic her hair is, the way the light from the window warms her whole face, the fact that at this time, she is playing on here iPhone (which is what she spends most of her spare time doing) and doesn't realize I'm photographing her. My favorite part is the eyebrow.

Do you have siblings that live far away from you? How do your nurture your relationship to stay close?

Goodbye California

Goodbye California!

Today we fly to Maine with a one way ticket. 

Goodbye land of golden hills and glistening blue waves. Goodbye land of season-less perfect temperatures. 

Goodbye first home outside of the state of my birth. Goodbye to the state where I fell in love with my husband. Goodbye to the state where I gave birth to my first child. 

Is it possible that we will live more than five miles away from the Pacific Ocean? Is it possible that we will wake up to snow falling outside our window? Is it possible to live in a land that does not have In-N-Out?

You've given us so much. Road trips through your hills. Moonlit bonfires on your beaches. Both countless calories and the beautiful weather in which to burn them off. You've given us the saints Barbara, Francisco, and Diego to show us hospitality and new ways of looking at community, church, and communion. You've given our family four degrees and maybe even more education in out-of-school contexts. You've given us a few years to be in driving distance of Manny's family and "Auntie Nina"/my sister Lauren. 

And you've given us so many friends we are sad to have to say goodbye to. 

Farewell ocean, farewell hills, farewell apartments. 

It's been a glorious decade! 

Snapshot Saturday #11: sweet mischief

I love this shot for so many reasons: the lighting, the warmth, the tenderness with which my sister is holding my child, and Sofia's little expression.


When have you visually witnessed the love between two people that has warmed your heart?