What i’m digging
musings on music, film, books, art, and pretty things.
2022
December 2022
Assorted films:
The Noel Diary, Klaus, Die Hard 2
November 2022
06
The Rescue. Our five-year old, along with the rest of us, are completely caught up in this 2022 documentary’s thrilling saga of the Thai boys who were trapped in an underground cave.
Sent our boys out to watch cartoons early in the morning while Becca and I finally started Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch. In bed. Thoroughly enjoying so far.
05
Enola Holmes 2! A fantastic follow-up to the fantastic original.
Last Night in Soho (started).
03
The Mockingjay part 1 (film). The saga of Katniss Everdeen’s crusade against President Snow and the Capitol continues, as does her confusion over which man-boy she loves more.
02
The Lie (2018 film). A teen pushes her best friend off a bridge. Her estranged parents help to cover it up. How far would you go to cover for your child?
A Country Doctor - Kafka’s 1819 absurdist classic short story.
Ken Liu’s haunting short story The Reborn.
01
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett
Started Matilda (film) with Youngers. The chocolate cake scene with Bruce Bogtrotter…
Arrested Development S2E1 with Olders
Watched a partial episode of Murders in the Building S2E5 with Becca
Watched a bit of 2021’s Annette, the Adam Driver-Marion Cottillard opera scored by Sparks
October 2022
The Youngers are loving Berenstain Bear books all over again. Our five-year old’s faves to watch on PBS Kids are slowly shifting from WildKratts to Word Girl and Odd Squad.
We are four episodes into the first season of Stranger Things with our Olders, and finally in it. I remain unsettled over whether it’s a good choice for us. But we are together, the four of us, and I suppose we get scared and talk about things as we do many things: together.
I watched BJ Novak’s directorial debut, Vengeance, solo, and it is fierce, hilarious, brutal, insightful, and a must-see for the year.
Octavia Butler’s 1983 short story masterclass on writing difficult exposition effortlessly: Speech Sounds
Barry (s3) solo. Dark, sometimes funny, and so poignant in the way it fuses PTSD against the setup of acting as therapy.
RRR (film, 2022, just me, although I shared different scenes with the family). There have been few times the last few years I have enjoyed a thrill ride of a movie the way I did this one. Three hours long, in Hindi, subtitled Indian film about friendship, revenge, betrayal…and just loaded front to back with action and set pieces that are fantastic. Also, it features the best dance-off I’ve seen in years. And…the best rescue scene I’ve seen in a decade. And…there’s a lot of ‘ands.’ So delicious.
Shadowlands (film, 1993, 10-29). An exquisite, beautifully written and performed love story about C.S. Lewis and his relationship with a brash American woman as he writes about suffering, joy, and human existence.
Other notable readings with the Youngers:
Are You Ready To Play Outside? by Mo Willems (2008)
The Egg Tree by Katherine Milieus (1950)
Everest: The Remarkable Story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by Alexandra Stewart, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (2019)
Everything In Its Place: a Story of Books and Belonging - Pauline David-Sax, illustrated by Charnel Pinkney Barlow (2022)
Extra Yarn - Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (2012)
Feather by Rémi Courgeon (2017)
The Hello, Goodbye Window - Norton Juster, illustrated by Chris Raschka (2005)
Horse Meets Dog by Elliott Kalan (2018)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (2011)
I Will Surprise My Friend! by Mo Willems (2008)
Just Me and My Little Brother (Little Critter) by Mercer Mayer (1991)
Listen To My Trumpet! by Mo Willems (2012)
The Little House: Her Story by Virginia Lee Burton (1942)
The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard (1946)
My New Friend Is So Fun! by Mo Willems (2014)
On my beach there are many pebbles by Leo Lion (1961)
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (2014)
Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexaner Ramsey, illustration by Floyd Cooper (2021)
Snappsy the Alligator by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Tim J. Miller (2016)
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf (1936)
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (2012)
Tilly and the Wall by Leo Lion (1989)
The Trip (Little Critter) by Mercer Mayer (1997)
There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer (1992)
Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser (2009)
Watch Me Throw the Ball! by Mo Willems (2009)
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen (2016)
What is Contemporary Art? A Guide for Kids by Jacky Klein and Suzy Klein (2012)
The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse - Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (2017)
Just Going to the Dentist by Mercer Mayer (Little Critter, 1990)
Just Like Dad by Mercer Mayer (Little Critter, 1993)
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me by Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate (2011)
Me Too! by Mercer Mayer (Little Critter, 1983)
There’s an Alligator Under My Bed (1987)
A Walk in Paris by Salvatore Rubbino (2014)
Grandma, Grandpa, and Me by Mercer & Gina Mayer (2007)
Just Grandpa and Me by Mercer Mayer (1983)
See You Next Year by Andrew Larson, illustrated by Todd Stewart (2015)
September 2022
Youngers / Family
Listening-Hamilton soundtrack, Wandering
Watching-The Middle, PBS Kids (Word Girl, Wild Kratts, Odd Squad)
Reading
Every Color of Light - written by Hiroshi Osada, illustrated by Ryoji Arai (2020)
Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer (1974)
Iced Out - written by CK Smouha, illustrated by Isabella Bunnell (2019)
Olders-solo
Watching: High School Musical the Musical the Series, She Hulk
15yo-The Scorch Trials
With Olders
Watching-Sweet Tooth
Watching-Arrested Development, season 1, episode 1…it seemed like the right time (9/19/22), Stranger Things…it seemed like the right month 🤔
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Me and Becca
Watching-Only Murders in the Building S2, Curb Your Enthusiasm S8, The Worst Person in the World
Reading-Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art (Becca)
Just me
Watching-The Bear, Breathless, Licorice Pizza, The Black Phone (9-22)
Listening-Run the Jewels
Reading-Joe Hill short story collection
Summer 2022
Watching
Book of Eli
Youngers (2, 5) / Family
a lot of Pixar features
The Apple Dumpling Gang
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Despicable Me
Lightyear
Luck
Zootopia
Others, solo
this is the summer of giggly self-aware excitement over possibly the greatest-named television series ever: High School Musical the Musical the Series.
Ms. Marvel
She Hulk
with Olders
Army of Thieves
Breakdown
The Gray Man
Hurricane Ridge
La La Land (8/13)
Mean Girls (8/16)
The Notebook
Person of Interest
Red Notice (7/27)
Top Gun
Unbreakable
The Village
with Becca
Dead to Me
The Worst Person in the World
just me
Breathless
Burn After Reading
Inside Llewyn Davis
Macgruber
Morvern Callar
Prey
Servant S3
Severance S1
A few picks from June 26-July 01
Watching
Old (2021). Worth for the Dominican Republic deserted beach alone. Not A-list Shyamalan, but worth a view for its take on aging and loss…and wondering just exactly why people are aging a year every 20 minutes while stuck on this beach.
A few picks from May 29-June 04
Watching
The Lost City. Preferred this Romancing the Stone knockoff to Jungle Cruise, although all three owe a deep and profound debt to the granddaddy of mismatched adventurers bumbling through mishaps. That would be Katherine and Humphrey on the intrepid African Queen. Note: I did enjoy Jungle Cruise for what it was. The Lost City gets extra points for Channing Tatum’s willingness to play second fiddle, Brad Pitt’s willingness to chew up a scene with hilarious cool, and Sandra Bullock’s willingness to muse and fret in a simultaneously comic and endearing manner.
Reading
Started reading the beloved Danny the Champion of the World with our youngest (5, 2). Perhaps early, but I could hold off no longer. A dad and his boy and the unbreakable bond, even as time and knowledge grow and innocence wears away. All time classic.
Listening xll
Bruce Springsteen’s 2002 masterpiece The Rising.
Reading together - picture books
Reading together - other
A few picks from May 22-28
Watching
The Miracle Maker (2000). I have no idea how this claymation gem escaped my radar for 20 years. A beautifully-visualized and voiced story of Jesus good for all ages. Ralph Fiennes provides a familiar tone in providing a voice to the Messiah.
Meet the Parents (2000). Would this still be funny? Would our Olders laugh? Would this be the right amount of cringe and laughter to enjoy together on a Saturday night? Yes, yes, and yes.
Reading
A few picks from May 15-21
Watching
The Forgotten. 2004 underrated, unremembered Julianne Moore thriller. Fourteen months after his disappearance, she still grieves for her deceased son. But now, everyone around says…he never existed. Whoaaaaa.
Forrest Gump. It’s a hard PG-13. Lot of heavy content. And…a lot of laughter over the physical similarities between me and Lieutenant Dan pre-haircut. Ha ha.
Dead to Me. Recommended by my sister-in-law. Took an episode to get in, but the acerbic and rat-a-tat friendship developing between two women dealing with grief has pulled me in. Christina Applegate is an underrated comic actor.
Reading
Master’s Choice: Mystery Stories by Today’s Top Writers - edited by Lawrence Block (1999, excellent anthology; includes high recommends by Bill Pronzini, John O’Hara, Donald Westlake, and Peter Lovesey)
Listening xll
Blueish - Animal Collective
The Crane Wife 3 - the Decemberists
Fake Palindromes - Andrew Bird
John Wayne Gacy, Jr - Sufjan Stevens
Needle in the Hay - Elliott Smith
The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Walcott - Vampire Weekend
The World At Large - Modest Mouse
Reading together - picture books
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin (2018)
The House in the Night - Susan Marie Swanson, pictures by Beth Krommes (Caldecott winner 2008)
Rapunzel - Bethan Woolvin (2017, 2-yr old loved it. Witches? Sold.)
Reading together - other
coming soon
A few picks from May 08-14
Watching
Forrest Gump (Olders)
Breeders (the British show about parenting, with Becca)
A few picks from May 01-07
Watching
Forrest Gump
Reading
How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa (short story collection, 2020)
How to Pronounce Knife (2019)
Listening
David Bowie, Howlin’ Wolf, Chemical Brothers, Def Leppard
A few picks from April 24-30
Watching
Servant. It’s taken me a year to get in a half dozen episodes, but I’m finally hooked on M. Night Shyamalan’s spooky, slow-burn chiller about parents, their…newborn, and the live-in nanny whose icy presence is almost more terrifying than the NYC house most of it takes place in.
Octonauts. The animated series about eight anthropomorphic animals who explore underwater and encounter various exotic locations and creatures. It’s a hit with a 5- and 2-year old.
Reading
Scheherazerade by Haruki Murakami
Reading together - picture books
The Adventurous Kid’s Guide to the World’s Most Mysterious Places - Patrick Makin, illustrated by Whooli Chen (2021)
A few picks from April 17-23
Watching
Hamilton. Yeah. The actual musical. Oh…not me. My daughter and her friend. Me? I walked around Portland for three and a half hours with my daughter’s friend’s dad - a new friend of mine - and we talked politics, philosophy, economics, films, travel, parenting, and other such topics as we circuited throughout the city’s sidewalks until 10.30pm.
Reading
Selections from Vonnegut’s Welcome to the Monkey House (1968)
The Foster Portfolio (1951)
Long Walk to Forever (1960) - must read
Miss Temptation (1956) - must read
Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) - skip
Who Am I This Time? (1961) - read
A few picks from April 10-16
Watching
The Sixth Sense (1999), finally, with our Olders. It has been high on their to-see list for a while, and after they finally memorized Dylan Thomas’s Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, it seemed like a good time. No correlation. It stood up well, and I was impressed by the slow build - I had remembered it as being terrifying, and it is…but it’s also a relatively slow burn in an efficient amount of time. Haley Joel Osment buries himself in one of the great child performances to close out the decade.
Psych is coming to an end - or rather, our experience is coming to an end. We’re midway through the final episode, and not overly impressed with the wrap-up so far, for a series that grew into one of the best buddy shows about friendship and crimefighting this century.
Started Person of Interest with our Olders. I saw the whole five-season run a while back and consider it an underrated network show. Reminds me of Fringe in the way it picked up steam over its run, moving toward multi-episode, season-spanning arcs that brought some beautiful thoughts on relationships and friendships together while delivering thrills, suspense, and paranoia about what we don’t know.
The Jesus Music. A 2021 documentary about the rise of Christian music as a discipline and cultural phenomenon that retraces its roots. Lot of nostalgia.
Reading
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
Picture Books
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel (1976)
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel (1972)
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (2007)
L is for London by Paul Thurlby (2015)
A few picks from April 03-09
Watching
Death on the Nile (2022). Kenneth Branagh’s second take on Agatha Christie’s classic detective piece featuring Hercule Poirot isn’t perfect, but it’s fun, keeps the Nile exotic and the guessing-game going.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Underrated family classic with some great sets and a caffeinated Kirk Douglas.
The Shaggy Dog (1959). Yes, kids can still enjoy black-and-white films these days once they get sucked into a good story. One of my favorite parts this go-round is our two-year old narrating what’s happening: “…Daddy, and then the police are locking up…the dog!”
Japan’s 2013 import, now on Netflix: Old Enough, in which toddlers are sent on various errands. Irresistible. I’m not a big fan of cutesy stuff trying to pass as meaningful, entertaining, or thought provoking. But: I resonate greatly with the notion of giving kids the opportunity to rise beyond the limitations we often place on them based on our expectations of their age and development.
Reading
Finished Curtis Sittenfeld’s 2018 12-story lineup You Think It, I’ll Say It. Some good stories, but even the weaker ones kept me immersed. Middle age, relationships, betrayal and love and the minutiae and trivial happenings in life that end up momentous. Or feeling that way.
Picture Books
Amos & Boris by William Steig (1971)
Bear Came Along - Richard T. Morris, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (2019)
One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz (1987)
A few picks from March 27-April 02
Watching
Academy Awards. Talk about giving the far-right crowd more fodder for cries of hypocrisy…Will Smith slap-hitting Chris Rock might have taken the news feed and Twitterverse over, but I was also sadly surprised, in a 2022 world still reckoning with #metoo, at the ways in which blatant sexual aggression by those in power (i.e. on stage and with a mic) is considered okay and hilarious in certain situations. And let’s be honest: I am no DT-defender, but I am anti-hypocrisy to the extent I’m able, and we all know everyone woulda been fine laughing at a joke made about orange-haired hair loss. Message: comedians, entertainers, actors, etc need to push the edges, make people feel uncomfortable, get raw and real, and dig deep…as long as it’s for the appropriate messages and against the appropriate groups or people. That’s my problem. Not because I disagree with the viewpoints, but because I can’t stand the cognitive dissonance, the inconsistency, and the flat-out hypocrisy in defending ethics in such situational ways.
Film & TV
An episode of The Middle
An episode of Psych (a meaningful ritual with our Olders; we are now on the final season 🙃)
Trying to get through the first episode of Severance. It might turn out great; I’m just not hooked yet.
Book - You Think It, I’ll Say It (short stories) by Curtis Sittenfeld (2018)
*After halfway through the ten stories, I think the book is more than the sum of its parts. It feels like there’s a lot of overlap in types of characters, dialogues, situations, etc. There are few that just stand out, yet I’ve been sucked into all of them. Most deal with some version of middle-aged ennui or challenge with relationships, betrayal, envy, or long-held onto resentment. Very topical, but often-referencing the ‘90s or first part of the century. There are only a few stories I’d heartily recommend, but I do recommend it overall as a read.
Bad Latch - pregnancy, motherhood, jealousy, societal expectations, jealousy, the psychology of raising kids today…excellent read.
Plausible Deniability - betrayal, relationships, brothers, in-laws…
Regular Couple - memory, marriage, being in your 30s…
Songs I Love this Week
Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen
Books with Kids
The Land I Lost by Quang Nhuong Huynh (1982, Read two more chapters; this is one I treasured in my childhood; stories of a boy’s experience growing up in Vietnam. Still holds up.)
Picture Books
How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz (2008)
Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei (1996)
The Wall by Peter Cis (2007)
Watercress - Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin (2021)
A few picks from March 20-March 26
Film
Loving Drive My Car. Breezed through the short story in twenty minutes; enjoyed but didn’t see the possibilities in it that are so beautifully rendered in the film. I love how different communications, including Korean Sign Language, are swirled together in the adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya within the film.
Spielberg’s take on West Side Story. Delightful choreography, can’t say I’m humming the songs, loving Ariana DeBose’s role, not blown away by Ansel Egort.
Books - Ken Liu’s collection The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. An almost-masterpiece.
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel (2012).
All the Flavors (2012).
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King (2013)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary (2011). A masterpiece. Time travel turned upside down, and an indelible look at how history is written, who it’s written by, and what it means to use the past in facing up to the present. Premise: a technique is developed where an observer can go back to a singular point in history (in this case, the Japanese Unit 731’s horrifying medical experiments on Chinese during WWII. Thing is, an event can only be observed once. Then the opportunity to return is destroyed. So what does it mean in terms of ownership over history, in terms of borders, and the collective versus individual; academic versus the personal? It is a poignant look at atrocities that examines the role eyewitness accounts, and gives just enough background on subatomic particle entanglement to make it seem possible, without getting bogged down in specifics. Chilling, and like several of his other stories, inspired by real life events that provide bottomless layers of thoughtful contemplation.
Mono No Aware (2012)
The Regular (2014).
The Waves (2012).
Listening
It’s Spring, so time to roll out LCD Soundsystem, duh.
Cake’s The Distance. Better than ever after 26 years.
Books - still working my way through Andrea Barrett’s Ship Stories. All stories revolving around 19th century scientists and science, with a focus on the human motivations and relationships in these characters’ lives.
The English Pupil - Carl Linnaeus takes a sleigh ride, his aged mind foggy, and recalls his past disciples.
A few picks from March 13-March 19
Film
Finished Dune. Hans Zimmer’s score. The pacing, the sets, the politics and betrayals and exquisite sense of tension and foreboding built through the first two hours. October 23, 2023 is too far off.
Readings / Ken Liu - The Paper Menagerie (short stories)
Good Hunting (2012)
The Literomancer (2010)
The Paper Menagerie (2011)
Perfect Match (2012)
Simulacrum (2011)
Music
Xavier Rudd’s live version of Spirit Bird in Amsterdam, 2018. A call to arms, a memory and history, an anthem and a sing-a-long for the ages. Soldier on.
Picture Books We’re Digging
if you want to see a whale - words by Julie fogliano, pictures by erin e. stead (2013, I love her illustrations - she also co-made A Sick Day for Amos McGee)
Other Readings
I’m going to return A Child’s Anthology of Poetry to the library. It’s a wonderful collection and we’ve had it for awhile. Eventually we’ll get our own copy. This collection, edited by Elizabeth Sword, has given me renewed appreciation for the role of curating and choosing what pieces to bundle together. It really makes for a marvelous and effective way of introducing interesting content in the right amount, with the right amount of easy access and challenge. I love this collection of classic and modern.
A few picks from March 06-March 12
Film
CODA (2021 film, with Olders). Loved.The trailer didn’t do it justice - I was expecting to appreciate it, not expecting to enjoy it like I did. A vivid, multilayered ensemble piece centered around a teen girl who loves to sing - and is the only CODA - Child of a Deaf Adult - in her family. A coming of age piece, a high school romance, a drama about responsibility and independence, a comedy about family and mentors, a meaningful examination of relationships of different types and the challenge in living with those you love…ideas that feel familiar, yet that also took me on a journey of better learning and understanding. Loved.
Nightmare Alley (2021 film). Soaked in noir-ish atmosphere you know is hurling toward inevitable bleakness, layered in thick circus shadows and the constant swirl of betrayal. I correctly surmised the closing scene within the first twenty minutes. Doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate it - I did. Fine performances, fine screenplay, beautifully shot, long at 2 1/2 hours, but also hard to not feel the filthy grime of humans at their horrible after such a story as this.
Short stories:
The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick (2007, short stories)
-Legions in Time (2003) - A fresh take on time travel. No, seriously.
-The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport (2002) Two rascals attempt to scam a dying scion in a scheme involving the missing Eiffel Tower, a a crafty cat, and…a gun.
-A Small Room in Koboldtown (2007) Murder, politics, locked room investigations against a future noir city
-Urdumheim (2007) A story of language and Babel as I’ve never imagined.
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami (2014 short story collection)
-Drive My Car
Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett (2019 short story collection against the backdrop of 19th century science; 1996 National Book Award Winner-Fiction)
-The Behavior of the Hawkweeds (Gregor Mendel, genetics, laws of heredity, the duality of relationships)
More readings:
Re-read Jorge Borges’ historical short Averroës's Search (1947) about…about what? Borges is a longtime favorite of mine, but it doesn’t mean I understand a great deal of his stories-within-stories-within-stories mirrors and labyrinths of plots and tales that keep me reaching for a dictionary, an encyclopedia, a definition, an explanation to help me understand the context and meaning of what I’m reading. Averroës's Search is a great example of this - it’s not one I consider essential of his, but like many, it leaves some nuggets to let seep in your consciousness. In short, it’s a convoluted story about a philosopher in the 12th century who is trying to translate Aristotle’s Poetics into Arabic. However, he has a problem: he has no idea of what the words tragedy and comedy mean, as theater doesn’t exist in the Islamic world at the time. He’s trying to find a framework to understand and looks to different examples around him (e.g. children playing - what are they doing?) but can’t wrap his mind around. He can’t successfully translate this idea from another culture into his own, and therefore can’t understand it. He includes a note at the end where he acknowledges that the difficult in an Arab trying to understand a Greek from 14 centuries before is as difficult as Borges himself trying to understand his title character within his own story.
Books: Miscellaneous:
-Bowie: The Life of An Icon From Aladdin Sane to Ziggy Stardust - Steve Wilde, illustrated by Libby Vander Ploeg (2016)
-P is for Paris by Paul Thurlby (2018, beautiful graphic illustrations)
Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (2014)
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, pictures by Betsy Lewis (2000)
Fables by Arnold Lobel (1980) - I love this book.
Flora and the Flamingo (2013) by Molly Idle
The Happy Day by Ruth Krause, Pictures by Marc Simont (1949)
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (2007)
Marshmallow - Story and Pictures by Clare Turlay Newberry (1942)
Mel Fell by Corey R. Tabor (2021, Becca read with Youngers)
The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Mary Grandpre (2014)
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi (1949)
Sunshine: A Story About the City of New York by Ludwig Bemelman (1950)
More Picture Books: Tomi Ungerer: A Treasury of Eight Books
-Emile
-Flix
-Fog Man
-The Hat
-Moon Man
-Otto
-The Three Robbers
-Zeralda’s Ogre
A few picks from February 27-March 05
Black Box by Jennifer Egan (2012). One of my favorite short stories of this century. An onslaught of feelings as character, setting, and plot are revealed, one bit at a time. The entire story is posted here on The New Yorker (she originally released it on Twitter).
Listening
Arise - Chevelle
The Embassy - Mos Def
Head Above Water - Men Without Hats
Ice Cream Van - Glasvegas
Matilda / Breezeblocks - alt-J
We Deserve to Dream - Xavier Rudd (2021, Becca’s go-to morning anthem…and evening…and afternoon - wait for mid-way through where he just cuts loose. A feel-better about humanity anthem for this year)The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick (2007, short stories)
Hello, Said the Stick (2002, soldier picks up a stick in the desert…and it starts talking)
The Dog Said Bow-Wow (2002, genetically engineered dog and his accomplice plan to scam Buckingham Palace)
Slow Life (2002, novelette - woman trapped on Titan…is something speaking to her in dreams? )
Triceratops Summer (2006, loved this one - a whimsical, thoughtful, funnier cousin to the film Arrival)
Tin Marsh (2006, novelette - two prospectors working on Venus start to hate each other, and it gets ugly)
An Episode of Stardust
The Skysailor’s TaleI saw Becca dip into both A Gentleman of Moscow and the eery short classic The Lottery…
A 14-yo reading The Hobbit for the first time…
Assorted Viewing
”Ice Age” (S1E16 of Love, Death & Robots, 11 minutes)
started CODA (with Olders). Am thoroughly drawn in.
finished Amistad (1997). So hard to watch, but a jolt and a shock that should never go away.The Birds (1963). I’ve not been a big fan of this previously, but I enjoyed this viewing much more alongside our 11-yo. The pace and rhythm of how terror is built up really stood out, as well as the charged banter amongst the characters of Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, and Suzanne Pleshette. The scene with the crows slowly assembling as she smokes on a bench outside school…
More short stories
After Twenty Years by O. Henry (1906)
Ambivalence by Ben Greenman (link to Forty Stories, opens in new window)
The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Eddie Campbell (2011, 2014)Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - Written by Judi Barrett and Drawn by Ron Barrett (1978)
Clown by Quentin Blake (1995)
Follow That Frog! Written by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell (2021)
The Grudge Keeper by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler (2014)
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (1955)
It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach (1976). A wonderful Yiddish folktale, retold, about gratitude and joy.
Locomotive by Brian Floca (2013)
Noah’s Ark by Peter Spier (1977)
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (Robert Frost) illustrated by Susan Jeffers (1923, 1978)More Picture Books…
The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gág (1933)
An Excessive Alphabet: Avalanches of As to Zillions of Zs by Judi Barrett (2016 - our beginning reader 5yo loved this; plenty of opportunities to sound out different objects in fun ways)
The Garden of Abdul Gasazi by Chris Allsburg (1979)
Lots More Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. written by Judi Barrett and drawn by Ron Barrett (2018)
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (2012)
A few picks from February 20-February 26
Robert McCloskey’s wonderful Blueberries for Sal (1948)
World War Z (2014). Still holds up after three viewings. With both our Olders. Smart (overall) and a depiction of a father responding to chaos and panic with clear-headedness. A rare summer movie that has withstood multiple viewings.
Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer (2020, short story). A charming, very short little tale about a woman who sets up a little free library in front yard, and develops a strange friendship with a mysterious borrower…available here to read on Tor.com (opens in new window).
State Change by Ken Liu (2004, short story). A woman considers the nature of how people protect their souls - in her case, in an ice cube.
A Walk in the Sun by Geoffrey A. Landis (1991, short story). She crash-lands on the Moon and has to stay alive for 30 days before rescue arrives - but how does she follow the sun? Hard sci-fi prequel cousin to The Martian a few decades later.
The Lost Children by Ursula Le Guin (short story, a two-age update to the Pied Piper)
Tucky Jo and Little Heart by Patricia Polacco (2015). Around 2015 or so, Becca read this to our (Older) kids, who would have been around ages 8 and 5. The memory is vivid, as she finished reading aloud with tears running down her cheeks; deeply moved. The kids never forgot, and tonight she read it aloud to all four for the first time in years. Friendship and kindness amidst WWII combat. This time around? Well…let’s just say that I am deeply moved by being married to someone who feels and cares so deeply for others.
A Great Day for Brontosaurs by Michael Swanwick (2002, short story). Forget cloning dinosaurs. Maybe there’s a more feasible option…and maybe there’s a twist coming…
Music
Daytona Sand by Orville Peck (2022)
Everybody Always Leaves by Matthew Ryan (2006)
One Way Out of a Hole by Cloud Cult (2022, thank you Rachel)
Wait by M83 (2011)
Surface Pressure by Jessica Darrow from the Encanto soundtrack (accompanied by two young boys costumed up and dancing their hearts out)Listening - Jonathan Edwards interview with Rachel Held Evans about embodiment and finding a balance in interacting with those we love and disagree with.
Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston (2016)
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (2010)
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (1948)
Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall (2015)
Little Bear’s Visit by Else Holmelund Minarik, pictures by Maurice Sendak (1961)
The Storm by Akiko Miyakoshi (2009)
A few picks from February 13-February 19
Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
Cinderella translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown (1954)
A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart by Zetta Elliott, illustrated by Noa Denmon (2020). This led to a wondrous, nuanced, and challenging conversation about race with our five-year old.
Greyfriars Bobby by Ruth Brown (2013)
I Dream of a Journey by Akiko Miyakoshi (2020)
The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi (2017)Riders of Justice (film, me only, 2020). This Danish crime film is one of my new favorite films of this decade. A widower is informed that his wife’s train accident may not have been an accident…and thus this multilayered jewel of a story unfolds with a wonderful bunch of misfits and weirdos. A tale of revenge, grief, friendship, fatherhood, trauma, and the power of relationships. A delight.
The Howling Man - The Twilight Zone, season 2, episode 5 (1960, me and our 11-year old TZ fellow fan). A man stumbles into a hermitage and discovers the brothers are keeping someone prisoner…what are the consequences of the decision he makes?…
Music
A two-year old dancing around the living room and singing a mash-up of Folsom Prison Blues, Champagne from In the Heights, and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Yep, we try to be well-rounded. 😂More Picture Books
Circus! by Peter Spier (1992)
Dick Whittington and His Cat by Marcia Brown (1950)
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (2005)
Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers (2010)
The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers (2007)
This Is My Dollhouse by Giselle Potter (2016) - Becca dug this one up; a great reminder of the joy in letting go of perfection and store-bought in favor of imagination and recycled creativity.Kiyoshi’s Walk by Mark Karlins, illustrated by Nicole Wong (2021). Becca found this one at the library and it’s one of my new favorite books about where creative inspiration and ideas come from, framing the plot around an elderly man walking through the city with his grandson and teaching where poetry comes from (specifically haiku, but applicable to many art forms).
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (1969). Shrek creator tale of a donkey turned into a rock and the parents looking for him, rendered in his droll, wonderful style.
Short stories
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition by Ken Liu (2012, the different choices parents make for their children, as set against the backdrop of essays on cognition and memory and following a scientist who’s written a letter to his daughter about his wife).
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species by Ken Liu (2012, literally, the ways that six different alien species record and remember their stories)
Direction of the Road by Ursula Le Guin (2007, a large oak tree profoundly observes the changing world on the road alongside)
EPICAC by Kurt Vonnegut (1950) A supercomputer tries to comprehend poetry and love)
Girls and Boys, Come Out to Play by Michael Swanwick (2005, difficult to summarize in a sentence, but there are satyrs and human-engineered gods and references to Arcadia and hidden utopias…)
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut (1961, everyone must be equal)
The Last Geek by Michael Swanwick (2004, the last of his kind relates tales from the circus)That Darn Cat (1965). Hayley Mills and Dean Jones go after bankrobbing kidnappers with the help of a cat, in the classic family suspense comedy.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999). The classic update to Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.
A few picks from February 06-February 12
Folsom Prison Blues. Johnny Cash’s 1968 live At Folsom Prison cold-blooded anthem that still packs a punch.
Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
Crictor by Tomi Ungerer (1958)
The Goody by Lauren Child (2020)
I Really Like Slop! by Mo Willems (2010)
Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner (2013)
Rufus : The Bat Who Loved Colours by Tomikas Ungerer (1961)The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin (1973). A short story that is a sort of philosophical cousin to The Lottery. Absolutely soul-crushing in its big question: what are we willing to let be a scapegoat if it means our lives are better as a consequence?
More Picture Books of note:
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Words and pictures by Mo Willems (2003)
The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall, pictures by Barbara Cooney (1979)
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown (1947)
The Tea Party in the Woods by Akiko Miyakoshi (2010)
Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (1957)
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (2019)
Wish by Matthew Cordell (2015)Films
The Mad Woman’s Ball (2021, just me)
Whiplash (2014, Olders). After this second viewing, I think I place this in my Top 25 for the decade. A must-see for its unresolved thoughts on inspiration, teaching, the creative process, and what it means to be a great artist or good human being.And a few more Picture Books…
The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu (2020)
The Fisherman and the Whale by Jessica Lanan (2019)
Little Big Girl by Claire Keane (2016)
Outside In by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Cindy Derby (2020)
The Piano Recital by Akiko Miyakoshi (2019)
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Michaela Goade (2020)
A few picks from January 30-January Feb 05
Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
The Bravest Knight by Mercer Mayer (2007)
Fog Island by Tomikas Ungerer (2013)
His Royal Highness, King Baby: A Terrible True Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by David Roberts (2017)
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (2004, Caldecott Winner)
The Power of Henry’s Imagination - Story by Skye Byrne, Pictures by Nic George (2015)
Troll and the Oliver by Adam Stower (2013)
The Z Was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg (1987)The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) Joel Cohen’s imagining of Shakespeare’s study in character disintegration is stripped of fancy sets or costuming, focusing instead on the intensity of the relationships and the beauty of the language, as filtered through Expressionistic black-and-white compositions and set completely on sound stages. One of my favorite Bard adaptations ever. Thrilling and gorgeous to just listen and try to stay up with the dialogue that’s trimmed and updated here and there, but dumbed down in no measurable way. Loved.
More picture books:
Frog Went A-Courtin’ by retold by John Langstaff, pictures by Feodor Rojankovsky (1955)
Our 11-year old son: “…this is probably my favorite Caldecott winner as far as illustrations go.”Jason Lytle’s wonderful 2012 solo album Dept. of Disappearance
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (short story) by Ambrose Bierce (1890). The classic short story about observation, recollection, interpretation, memory, and imagination, as a Civil War soldier stands on a bridge, noose around neck, and waits for his executioners to render judgment.
Red Eye (2005). Pierce-eyed Cillian Murphy terrorizes Rachel McAdams in a jet high in the sky. Claustrophobic, tense, satisfying. (with Olders)
A few picks from January 23-January 29
Picture Books we liked or loved this week:
I Am Going by Mo Willems (2010)
More Than Sunny by Shelley Johannes (2021)
The Problem With Pierre by G.K. Smouha, illustrated by Suzanna Hubbard (2020)
The Relatives Came story by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Stephen Gammell (1985)
Sebastian and the Balloon by Philip C. Stead (2014, pastels, oil paints, pressed charcoal)
Sparky! written by Jenny Offill, illustrated by Chris Appelhans (2014, watercolor & pencil)
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers (2011)
Teacup by Rebecca Young & Matt Ottley (2015)
This is a ball: books that drive kids crazy by Beck & Matt Stanton (2015)
Tuesday by David Wiesner (1991)
When I Wake Up: Every Day Is Full of Choices by Seth Fishman & Jessica Bagley (2021)tick, tick…BOOM! (2021, Netflix). Lin-Manuel Miranda’s interpretation of Rent auteur’s creative struggle to find success in NYC during the early 90s. Andrew Garfield and his frenzied facial expressiveness would be a worthy foil to Clair Danes. A masterful musical odyssey of an artist’s journey and the many obstacles and collisions real life throws at it.
Enemy (2013, Hulu) Denis Villeneuve’s psychological study, Lynchian odyssey of a man who sees his exact double in a film he’s watching…and becomes fixated. Down the rabbit hole we go. Terrifying ending. And the lovely Melanie Laurent always clicks up a film’s grade by a few notches.
More Picture Books
The Boy and the Ocean by Max Lucado, paintings by T. Lively Fluharty (2013)
The Children of the King by Max Lucado, illustrated by Toni Goffe (1994)
Geraldine by Elizabeth Lilly (2018)Paper Planes (2014) A lovely Australian family film about friendship, perseverance, and the science of preparing for a paper airplane competition.
I Am Legend (2007) Will Smith’s post-apocalyptic remake of The Omega Man holds up well. One of the most touching man-dog friendships in a movie. And terrifying in both the creatures and the loneliness. Watched with ages 11 and 14.
A few picks from January 16-January 22
Altered Carbon, season 1 (Netflix). Took me several months to finish the 10-episode arc, but it was worth it. I become a bigger Joel Kinnaman fan with every show he’s in (The Killing, Hanna, this). The premise is simple and then gets complicated fast: a future in which people’s bodies mean nothing; rather, it’s the stacks that contain their vital identity that allow, particularly the super-rich, to live indefinitely and theoretically forever. A neo-noir-ish sci-fi set up sends our brains spinning in one man’s quest for redemption and answers.
The Return of the King
A few picks from January 09-January 15
The Two Towers, Peter Jackson’s middle entrant in the Middle Earth trilogy, which contains the battle of Helm’s Deep and the escalating role of Gollum.
The Middle. Patricia Heaton’s follow-up to Everybody Loves Raymond, a show that I thought of as just another lightweight entry in the dysfunctional families sitcom mold, but that has grown on me and morphed into something more. A small town Indiana family with three kids that sometimes seem more difficult than raising a dozen Orcs, and the parents who keep trying. Failing, and trying. But keep trying. Not sure if the kids always understand why Becca and I are laughing so frequently. But we all enjoy it.
Cask of Amontillado. Edgar Allan Poe’s 1846 classic tale of terror about a friend with a grudge leading his ‘friend’ to his doom through the catacombs…
William Tell Overture
Dead Poet’s Society
Chevelle Mother Earth
System of a Down
A few picks from January 02-January 08
Oboe Concerto in D Minor by Tomaso Albinoni (1717). Please, please play this in the morning, in the gray, in the gloom, in the fog and the melancholy glory, hope, and malaise of a new year dawning. Please.
Psych season 7. The character of Woody the Coroner (played by the woefully underrated and inimitable Kurt Fuller), cheerful, vaguely menacing yet affable and affectionate buddy of Shawn and Gus, has become a staple as the show continued picking up steam over its eight-year run. I start laughing and cheering as soon as I knew he’s showing up in any episode.
Levitz and Let the Drummer Kick by (respectively) Grandaddy and Citizen Cope. Thank you for a great music year 2002.
The last thriller by Woman on the Train author Paula Hawkins that I sort of accidentally got off the Lucky Day shelf at the library on a whim, picked up, and now am moderately deeply into as I race through pages in ten minute chunks here and there. Unfortunately I don’t remember the title. There’s a murder, and a trio of characters, and psychological trickery, et cetera et cetera, and I’m enjoying casually.
Started Don’t Look Up, the critically-divisive, big star-ensembled Adam McKay film about the world ending and people’s generally apathetic reaction to it.
Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson’s 2001 interpretation that still holds up so well, led by the friendship of Samwise and Frodo, the thoughtful and humble strength of Aragorn, the commitment to battle evil no matter the sacrifice, and, of course, the epic battle scenes.
Two picks from December 26-January 01
The Matrix Resurrections. Haven’t finished. Not sure what I’m thinking of the ultra-meta setup. Action scenes leave something to be desired, but I’m liking where the love story appears to be going.
Xavier Rudd’s live version of Spirit Bird from The Netherlands, 2017. Never gets old. For the soul, for the ages.