Saturday, June 23, 2007
Knocked Up
Yesterday, A and I went to see the wildly popular and well-reviewed film Knocked Up. This film is created by writer/director Judd Apatow, who did 40-year Old Virgin and was a regular contributor to the Larry Sanders Show. The latter being a series that we recently rented on DVD and just got so many laughs from. Jeffrey Tambor, Gary Shandling and Rip Torn make for a trio to be contended with. If Seinfeld had three players (such blasphemy, I realize) instead of four, there would be some serious competition with The Larry Sanders Show.
Getting back to Knocked Up, we had a blast watching this film. The relevance to our current circumstances made our laughs all the more hearty. The tale follows two people who meet at a club, have a one-night stand and... oops, she gets knocked up. It's nine months of intensity (from all angles) and laughs and learning. The two, unknown leads, Heigl and Rogan, meshed and found an authentic rhythm in their relationship that is rarely seen on-screen.
The film, like 40-year Old Virgin, is a pure story. In Virgin, the lead guy wants to remain a virgin until he meets the right one. In KU, a guy and girl want to make right by the baby that they made and in the process give each other the benefit of the doubt to get see the thing through. It's refreshing to watch a film that is relevant while not contrived.
I highly recommend this film for anyone - knocked up or not. It'll be hard to miss Apatow films from hereon in... he's got two in the can since KU and has five more lined up for production in the next three years.
Getting back to Knocked Up, we had a blast watching this film. The relevance to our current circumstances made our laughs all the more hearty. The tale follows two people who meet at a club, have a one-night stand and... oops, she gets knocked up. It's nine months of intensity (from all angles) and laughs and learning. The two, unknown leads, Heigl and Rogan, meshed and found an authentic rhythm in their relationship that is rarely seen on-screen.
The film, like 40-year Old Virgin, is a pure story. In Virgin, the lead guy wants to remain a virgin until he meets the right one. In KU, a guy and girl want to make right by the baby that they made and in the process give each other the benefit of the doubt to get see the thing through. It's refreshing to watch a film that is relevant while not contrived.
I highly recommend this film for anyone - knocked up or not. It'll be hard to miss Apatow films from hereon in... he's got two in the can since KU and has five more lined up for production in the next three years.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
34
No, I'm not 34 but this pregnancy is, weeks that is.
It feels real now - this belly has a baby in it. A babe that likes to do backflips, somersaults, warrior-poses and handstands with frequency. I've got the weird symptoms happening now and that's okay. I'm just grateful that I haven't had to endure so many to-be-expected strange things throughout my pregnancy.
And so, I miss my ankles. I miss running - a lot. I dream about running - it's like a slow motion picture, with my hair billowing with each stride, getting glassy eyes from the wind and the flowing motion of slow albeait deliberate movement. I miss driving with awareness of what I'm doing. Who knew driving needed so much concentration to accomplish?! It may sound odd, but I find driving one of my most difficult tasks while pregnant. Sure, it doesn't help that each sitting position is just really awkward, but driving takes a lot of concentration and effort to do now. I miss sleeping on my stomach.
Okay, enough mushy-head-woe-is-me stuff.
I am fascinated by the versatility of my body throughout this process. I love the motion of this babe inside, cocooned and cozy although autonomous somehow. I like the way that strangers act shy or coy around me, like they have an in on my secret. They smile and nod and get dozy-eyed... become dreamers or something. I like the adventure of what is ahead of me. I like that I can eat ice cream and not feel icky afterwards (non-pregnant, ice cream is of no interest to me). I like that no one at work can be mad at me for taking a year off - they're all just too mushy about the whole thing to get worked up about it.
Yeah, it's all good.
It feels real now - this belly has a baby in it. A babe that likes to do backflips, somersaults, warrior-poses and handstands with frequency. I've got the weird symptoms happening now and that's okay. I'm just grateful that I haven't had to endure so many to-be-expected strange things throughout my pregnancy.
And so, I miss my ankles. I miss running - a lot. I dream about running - it's like a slow motion picture, with my hair billowing with each stride, getting glassy eyes from the wind and the flowing motion of slow albeait deliberate movement. I miss driving with awareness of what I'm doing. Who knew driving needed so much concentration to accomplish?! It may sound odd, but I find driving one of my most difficult tasks while pregnant. Sure, it doesn't help that each sitting position is just really awkward, but driving takes a lot of concentration and effort to do now. I miss sleeping on my stomach.
Okay, enough mushy-head-woe-is-me stuff.
I am fascinated by the versatility of my body throughout this process. I love the motion of this babe inside, cocooned and cozy although autonomous somehow. I like the way that strangers act shy or coy around me, like they have an in on my secret. They smile and nod and get dozy-eyed... become dreamers or something. I like the adventure of what is ahead of me. I like that I can eat ice cream and not feel icky afterwards (non-pregnant, ice cream is of no interest to me). I like that no one at work can be mad at me for taking a year off - they're all just too mushy about the whole thing to get worked up about it.
Yeah, it's all good.
Friday, June 01, 2007
In between reading stuff about pregnancy, birth and post-baby life, I'm having a delightful time crossing off books from my list of what I've been wanting to read for several years. Miriam Toews' a complicated kindness is a book that I gobbled up during our Europe trip (specifically on our train tour - hey, I had the time). I laughed out loud regularly while reading Toews' coming-of-age novel which insightfully explores growing up Mennonite in a small, prairie town. Although I didn't grow up in a small town, I can definitely relate to the Menno-isms captured by Toews since I am, in fact, a Mennonite gal. Toews captured the Breakfast Club richness of teen angst and meshed it together with my own reality of growing up Mennonite. To set the tone, here's an excerpt early on in the book:
"We're Mennonites. As far as I know, we are the most embarrrassing sub-sect of people to belong to if you're a teenager. Five hundred years ago in Europe a man named Menno Simons set off to do his own peculiar religious thing and he and his followers were beaten up and killed or forced to conform all over Holland, Poland and Russion until they, at least some of them, finally landed right here where I sit... Others ran away to a giant dust bowl called the Chaco, in Parauay, the hottest place in the world. ... Imagine the least well-adjusted kid in your school starting a breakaway clique of people whose manifesto includes a ban on the media, dancing, smoking, temperate climates, movies, drinking, rock 'n' roll, having sex for fun, swimming, makeup, jewellery, playing pool, going to cities, or staying up past nine o'clock. That was Menno all over. Thanks a lot, Menno. There's also something annoying about a man who believes in complete humility naming a group of people after himself. And using his first name. "
I must admit I always thought it odd that the faith wasn't called Simonite vs. Mennonite.
While reading the book, I contemplated how I was raised and identified which values and Mennonite-based principles I felt I would share with my child. Although I have distanced myself from the 'religion' of Mennonites, there are certain aspects of being Mennonite that I identify with still culturally or via my heritage.
An example of this is that I am a pacifist.
Another example of Menno-me is that I believe that meeting a person's present physical need is essential in order to address or even contemplate a spiritual need.
Alternatively, I rail against the well-captured synopsis made by Toews of the angry God or the intolerant God. I was raised on the angry God, which included horrific B-movies which depicted being left behind on earth while family and friends were swept away to heaven.
a complicated kindness triggered interesting emotions for me and caused me to ponder the approach I'll take to raising my little Mennonite.
