Indian food is definitely hot- in more ways than one! Great food, hot stuff, and wonderful to break the monotony of the general American diet. If you can get a good restaurant that does buffet food, you're doing well! Not only is there tremendous variety, but it is delicous AND nutritious with a great balance (that we sadly lack lots of times) between veggies, grain, and meat. I went there last night for my farewell dinner with Michael. We had a great time, and we loved the food. We also enjoyed seeing how many times Michael could get the waiter to fill his glass up. His goal was ten- he got him to refill eleven times before we left! Congrats Michael! Next time we're bringing a score card.

The highlight was, for me, when we came in and the waiter thought he recognized us. I told him we hadn't been there in a while, and he said that we just looked like a father and son that had come in last week- and he hoped I enjoyed my meal with my son that night.

Of course, that was delightful. Michael and I had, for the fun of it, "played the part" of father and son before at the beach- but that time it just happened. Michael of course enjoyed it, and told me as we went to the buffet that tonight we'd be "father and son"- and of course none of us bothered correcting the waiter. To me, it's a compliment and a wonderful feeling. Of course, I'll never (nor would I want to) take Jay's place there- I'm quite happy being the Uncle, as there are some privileges that go along with that and I have my own son now- but it means we go well together, I think. It also means I apparently look old enough with my beard to "pass" for his Dad. That works, for now.

-Patrick

Second Film to see this Winter!

I have not yet seen the "Geisha" movie, so I cannot speak to that... yet. However, to date my number one movie of the year- and this century- has been The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If you have not seen that movie, then you definitely should make that your next movie! However, second to that- and in a very different bracket- I must confess that the broadway hit converted to the big screen has my winning vote for the year! The Producers was on broadway with both of the same leads that star in the movie, and my Dad was lucky enough to get to see them in it on Broadway. He spoke very highly of it, and so I was eager to see it when I heard of it coming to the movies. I was not dissapointed.

While it is definitely a strong PG-13 (it could be rated R, I'm not sure... but if it is, well, I won't argue- it has some very risque adult humour in it) and some of you might not be comfortable with it on that basis alone, it is so smoothly comical and so wonderfully musical it is hard to resist its charm. Recently, movie musicals have been making a come-back after a long hiatus from the screen. This one truly assures their fair place in our hearts once more. Will Ferrel is definitely not "stuck in there" either- while this might assure his typecasting forever, he seems simply made for the part of the nazi screenwriter who is obsessed with Hitler to the point of insanity. Not only that, but if you wait through the credits at the end, you get to hear him sing a "serious" elegant version of the made-up German song Hitler "loved to hear". Stay until after the credits, and you'll get an "encore" performance for a few seconds by the cast.

If you haven't had a large experience with musicals, I encourage you to try it out- and if you have, it is a must see! Katrina was laughing so hard throughout it- she was beaming with humour, and everyone in the theatre had trouble not laughing aloud. I definitely clapped a few times without even thinking- and that rarely happens. I think I just forgot I was in the movies, and felt more like I was actually watching a musical. This movie has FOUR stars in my book, so long as you keep it in its own adult comedy bracket. Part of its high rating is merely for the fact that such incredible musicals are hard to come by- and it is a forerunner in the trend to revive musicals.

Anime Fest

Sending out the old year in STYLE

Even with a new baby present, I had an
absolute blast with Michael spending the night with our family last night.
Since it was better for him not to stay in our bedroom (obviously), and Katrina
has been spending a lot of baby-care time in the living room where our couch
is, Michael was quite happy to bunk on the floor in a sleeping bag in the Cave
(baby/computer room). So happy, in fact, that when I left the room last night
and came back within half an hour he was snoring quite happily. We stayed up
late, but not as late as we might have if we’d pushed it- we got in bed shortly
after one in the morning, and before two. We had a wonderful time- sampling
anime, sharing some various internet oddities like music videos and silly FLASH
video sites, etc. We knew Jay would only let him stay over one night this trip,
so we made the best of it! I’m going to try to spend more time with my nieces
now that we’ve had some intense and fun time together. I get the sense that
with Jay lately working a hard job, he is looking to have some father and son
time on this trip and has felt a little deprived with Michael spending all his
time with me. I want to renew things as I can with the girls, so I’m going to
do what I can to focus more on them and let Michael get in time with Dad. In
trying to bond and support Michael I may have over-compensated and left the
girls feeling left out.

Though it cannot be by too much, at least
not in an unhealthy way. I’ve noticed that Abby was happier than ever to see me
and spend time with me this trip. In August she seemed a little distant and
aloof, so it’s nice to see the change. Meanwhile, Amber is her quiet self but
very open to responding to a desire for time. Ashley, the eldest and wildest,
is particularly open to being close to Kat and can be very open at times as
well. All in all, I ask prayer for God reminding me when an important time to
share or give counsel comes up. I think I’ve counselled poor Michael to the bone
by now anyway.

Netflix

What more can I say about netflix? It is an
incredible system, but for one little kink- we have a communal mailbox that at
least seven other apartments (at present) use. I don’t think our last two
netflix DVDs were stolen (I HOPE at least), but our friendly neighbour who has
helped get our mail in the past may have kept it for us while we were gone on
Christmas thinking to give it to us when we got back. Only, he apparently had
to go away too, and so now we have no mail!! I’ve reported the netflix DVDs as
missing and gotten replacements sent- and if I don’t find the originals they
will just leave them as lost in the mail- but if it happens too much and I
don’t get the originals back to them, they will put my account on hold. So, I
hope this gets worked out. Otherwise, we’ll have two options- install our OWN
mailbox and hope our landlord can deal with it, or else we will just have to
pay for a post-office box. Since we just do NOT have the funds to afford that,
we’ll try to do it the relatively inexpensive ways for now- or hope that is not
necessary.

Otherwise, Netflix is GREAT. Incredible
variety, and good delivery time. The wait isn’t too bad, even considering I’d
like to get an instant-return. The incredible amount of variety makes up for
the wait, I’d say. I can find almost ANY anime my heart desires- and instead of
paying huge sums just to see it once, I can just rent it and be happy. I get
it, I watch it, I put it back in the envelope, seal it up, and put it back to
be picked up again the next morning. Simple and easy.

Winter brings tough times

Well, I tend to be optimistic about what
God is bringing us in life. I think, however, it is safe to say that since the
birth of our baby boy God has taken care of us. Yet I can also say that
it has been incredible tough on us financially, too. Katrina has made just
enough in the past to help us get by- and that is WITH my parents helping a
lot with our rent bill. Now, this winter the power company charges about 40%
MORE than before. In past winters our electric and gas fee was painfully high-
this month it has proven to be scary. The only way we ‘survived’ was the fact
my parent’s Christmas present to us was- well, they found out exactly what we
were facing and gave us an amount that would hopefully cover both the
electric/gas bill and Kat’s car insurance. Kat got zero pay for the first 3+
weeks after birth, and hopefully now will be getting 60% pay. After she goes
back things will go back to normal (hopefully better than normal if she gets
the small, but still good, promotion she is after) she’ll get normal pay, times
will still be tight but manageable, but right now they just aren’t passable. So
we rely on God, and- for now- my parent’s have been God’s means to help us.
Well, Kat’s Mom gave us a wonderful Christmas gift- hundreds of dollars worth
of change in a big, heavy box- but we’re trying to save that for Conor. If
things get tight enough, though, we’ll have to break into it.

We’ve heard the salvation army is going to
be giving utility help to families in our income bracket, so we are hoping to
apply to them for help- continue to get WIC aid for food- and also look for
other ways to get assistance with basic things like food and living expenses
with our new baby. We asked for some help from our Church, but we haven’t been
full members long and they never got back to us- so I’m not planning on pushing
the issue. I know if God moves them to do something, he’ll do it in His time.
Meanwhile, we continue to have faith and tithe fully- after all, ten
percent of all we make doesn’t even belong to us. Since we got married, we’ve
always either given our tithe to church- or, when we haven’t, we’ve set it
aside in a special account and used it for ministry to others in a way that
would not benefit us personally. That was an incredible experience- we’d save
it up, and use it to help out friends or even deserving new friends we met and
felt a moving to help. The Church is a way God helps people in need, but
sometimes people have needs and the Church just can’t clearly see it- so we had
a special position to save up and use our resources to bless those that maybe
were missed. Of course, now we’re focusing on the Church again, but it was a
great experience. Please pray for us that during this time, we’ll continue to
find all we need and- most importantly- to honour God in thanks for what we
have, and learn to live within our means. The people in the Carribean or South
America we will one day minister to surely struggle with far less than we have
now.

The neat thing is, even when you have just
a little, you still have enough to give to God His deserved tithe- and to give
of your time and love to others. When I couldn’t afford to give money to the
hurricane victims, I could give my time physically there with them. God is
good, all the time.

-Patrick

They're BACK!

You liked 'em before...

In the past, just a few months ago, my brother Jay and his children visitted- in particular, my nephew Michael came a week early and got his own chunk of my page here. Well, they are back! One of the benefits of having my baby boy was that they are coming down just to see him! In truth, my sis-in-law Stacey wanted to come down herself- and that gave the rest of the kids enough excuse to pester Jay into bringing them all down again! This is the first time we've ever had them down twice in one year! It's a minimum ten hour drive to SC from Penn, so I do understand.

Of course, some folks out there in netland seem to think that any affection or posting-of-well-taken-pictures indicates some sort of pervertedness on my part (one Xangan who subscribed to me took me off her protected list and unsubbed because of my previous posts of Michael, and for michael (he wanted his "online girlfriend" of perhaps two weeks to have her picture up here so he could show his friends at school- which apparently someone felt was illegal of me to do, and meant I was a pedofile, and my nephew probably didn't even exist... ha ha. Well, I have at least 20 people I can name who will attest otherwise- both to him existing, and to my moral propriety). Of course, after watching an episode of Dateline NBC I can understand how suddenly folks could get very suspicious of pretty much all men online- that was just freeeeeaky. But anyway, I think that for the record, anyone who wants to make allegations of innapropriate behavior regarding children should take the hint from the way most police-related agencies work and at least have a legitimate basis for such feelings before acting on them. Even perverted-justice (a vigilante group that works to catch internet pedofiles) has solid evidence before they act. (www.perverted-justice.com)

Sorry about the rant. You see, I was soooo bothered by the comment this person made a while ago I had a horrible night the next night- I woke up feeling muscle aches, my chest tight, etc. The reason is because I have to wonder- how could someone read my site, a site which someone just recently said "inspires them", and instead of getting some of the many things they could get out of it (which could even include that I'm a boring idiot, or immature... that's reasonable) they would get... well, whatever they got? After over a week to think about it, and get counsel from my wife, the only thougth I can have is that they must have either been abused as a child, or that they have dealt with child abuse in their family. That, or THEY abused a child and are now going passive-aggressive on others. Hmmm. I will admit one thing though- I DID ask them why they took me off their protected list, so in that sense, I had something coming. Just didn't quite imagine that.

Just can't wait to see 'em!

So, back to nephew and neices! They arrived in South Carolina on Christmas Eve or pretty darn near to it. Of course, since Wednesday I've been with Katrina up here with her parents near Raleigh, North Carolina, about 3.25 hours from Columbia, South Carolina. Today, the day after Christmas, we will drive home and then celebrate Christmas there with them! It is our first biiig, full family Christmas with my entire immediate family- ever, in my life! Of course, growing up my two half-brothers weren't around so when they were they felt more like close Uncles (espeically with them being SO much older). But we've NEVER had them all down for Christmas- Chris lives near us, now, but Jay hasn't come down at Christmas EVER. So this is our first big family Christmas reunion sort of thing. All my brothers, my sister, and all our kids together in one place. Wow!

Of course, best of all, Michael is going to stay over (hopefully, if his Dad okay's it) for two nights with Kat 'n myself. We're going to do a "Sending out the old year ANIME style!" party. Wooooo hoooo. I really am just a kid at heart! Katrina said of all the kids that could stay over, she'd want Michael, since he tended to dissapear with me- and she kind of likes alone time to rest when people are over. Lots of social time is draining- and since she's an introvert that makes sense. So Mikey and I will paaarty like two preteen boys (except I'm 6'4") and watch anime, play computer games, and all that stuff.

Tenchi Muyo! and Full Metal Panic are the spotlight.

Now, for those of you who aren't really anime folks, you can get a short exposure that hopefully won't bore ya. Most people who have watched some anime on the Cartoon Network will be familiar with Tenchi- he's one of the first really popular cartoon network anime's. Of course, sadly, they cartoon net only showed the dubbed version- which frankly is rather stupid sounding. Believe it or not, if you've never watched a subtitled anime- no WONDER you don't like them. There are VERY few good dubs (that is, when americans speak over the Japanese actors). And if my neices and Nephew who aren't even teenagers can enjoy and follow a quickly-moving subtitle of anime then you adults out there should be able to as well. The neat thing about anime is that unless you just HATE animation as a whole, there is ALWAYS something out there that might interest you. Janapese don't see animation as "just for kids" like the Western world does. There is anime for mothers, for preteen boys AND girls, and of all types and varieties. Tenchi is really particularly great for boys about pre-teen age and up with discretion.

Anyway, gotta run. See you on the SC side!

-Patrick

The Balanced View

Asian Eye Surgery

It was quite a startling thing, to turn on a talk-show a few days ago and find out about eye surgery for Asians. I would imagine it is most common among Asian-Americans and most specifically, American-born Asians. The surgery is a plastic surgury where they basically alter the genetically caused slant of Asian eyes- the result is that while they are still obviously Asian, they look significantly more 'comfortable' to the "Western" eye. They actually look a lot more like some Asians I have already met that are several generations "mixed"- so basically what they are doing is 'tempering down' their race to be what the culture here says is more attractive. The person on the show who did this had a caucasion boyfriend, who was upset- because he thought she was beautiful with her eyes like they were, and saw no need for her to have the surgery. So really, in her case, it was a self-image issue more than a desire to alter herself for someone else.

What are your thoughts? Do you think that this form of plastic surgery is a negative thing, a positive thing, simply a neutral thing depending on the person's choice? Do you feel that this type of cosmetic surgery is no better than the surgery used to, say, reduce weight? Worse? Same?

Since this is my first balanced view segment, I'll explain what I'm going to do. I love to look at multiple sides. So, what I will do is argue for a side- even adamently so. Then I will swap and argue for the other side. If one side offends you, my apologies, but I'm just trying to look at both sides. At the end, either I'll give you which side I agree with- or perhaps let you guess.

Against Eye-surgery

I'm a Christian, so I'm going to come from the Christian perspective as well as others. God made us all a certain special way- he purposely gave us different languages when we refused to spread out and make our own paths (Genesis, tower of Babel). A lot of people are upset about the idea of the media showing us a "mold" to fit- and this is just another one, only even worse than Michael Jackson trying to turn "white" or someone trying to force their body to be thin. The Asian heritage- a unique past of thousands of years, ancient history and pride- is being thrown away because the modern Western culture says the 'white look' is more attractive. It's no better than a caucasion going to Asia and having his/her eyes slanted to fit in better- and I'd imagine the family reaction would be no better, either.

What does this say about the self-esteem of the person getting the surgery done? This doesn't speak to the people around the person in question so much as that person. Get in touch with your past, your heritage, and gain some self-respect for who you are. God designed you to be an Asian- a beautiful part of our world, don't turn your back on that unique gift.

For Eye Surgery

Plastic surgery, like a tatoo or hair dye or even clothing, is just another way to add a little personal spice to who you are. It's also different than changing weight- it's adding a unique style and touch, like an ear peircing. If an Asian wants to change the slant of their eyes- they aren't changing their race, their just changing part of how they look. After all, being Asian is far more than how your eyes look- it IS a whole culture, it's in the DNA, and the look becomes something that isn't close to 'white' but isn't just plain Asian either. It's something beautiful and unique, and it's the person's choice. As for their family- if my parent's don't like the clothing I choose, they need to learn to accept my tastes and styles. It isn't the same as a major moral issue in any way- it's not like they've decided to "come out of the closet" or have a sex change. One person's choices do not define their entire race. God made us to be unique, yes, but by using our own creativity and art we are making ourselves more unique. Besides, I've seen some very beautiful people who have had eye surgery- they appeal to the western eye, and since they live in America (or Europe) then they have the right to choose to fit in a little more if they want. It's a trend, trends come and go.

My Thoughts

Well, this time, I'm going to ask you to choose which 'side' you think I lean towards. Also, I have a few Asian and Asian-American friends on Xanga that I will ask to give their two cents for comments. I'm interested in seeing what they have to say about it. If this goes over well I'll try some more balanced views. In my next "balanced" post I'll let you know what my view on this one is.

-Patrick

Xanga 12-17-05

Do you have a special place?

(Note- just a random Conor image I already had up before, just to share my new baby BOY with visitors!)

Unique

We each have a unique style to who we are- we can relate to others in a way nobody else can. What might be a weakness with some people, can be a strength with others. Also, sometimes merely getting past the surface clutter- so that people can see the right part of us- can allow us to uniquely click with someone else. In the same way, there are things that other people have to offer us- experiences, wisdom, love- that we can only see if we are willing to look for it and accept it.

There are certain things that we can share to certain people- sometimes in a short, chance meeting; sometimes over a period of time in a relationship- that they might not be able to get, or accept, from anyone else. There are also things we might be able to see that nobody else sees. Sometimes it is our unique closeness that allows it, sometimes our unique lack thereof that does. Some of us need to try to look more at what we can get from someone, some need to look at what we can give. By get, I don’t mean take in a selfish sense alone- I mean, what they can teach us. I often catch myself trying to talk and share too much- and I try to learn to listen more, to see what they can teach me instead of what I can teach them. I find this is perfect for me- because by listening, by learning, I fix the biggest gap and as a result my friends are more willing to accept what I have to give. Others lack in giving- listening, listening, taking, but not sharing of themselves. Not really, at least.

Seeing what Mom thought was lost

I feel very privileged when someone shares something with me- especially something important, private, emotional, etc. I consider trust bestowed in me a blessing and a special thing. Last night, my Nana (my maternal grandmother) called and I got a chance to speak with her. I’m not sure why, but even though we lived farther away from my Mom’s family (Mom was from the bay area of California, my Dad from Tennessee) and my Mom had more family issues with her family I always felt closest to them. As I got older I felt a little smothered by the differences between my Dad’s family culture and our own unique family culture. The south just didn’t fit with me at that age- especially as I had conflict with the southern teachers I faced, it made me resent them slightly. But Nana and Grandpa Dick (step-grandfather) always had a special place in my heart. Mammaw and Pampaw had a lot of grandchildren, but with Nana and Grandpa I was unique and felt very loved.

Lately, however, my Mom has felt more and more grieved- feeling Nana falling away slowly as her memory gets less accurate of recent events, and she gets more and more paranoid. She is and has been an alcoholic for a long time, and it is beginning to effect her in very permanent ways. Long-term drinking results in paranoia, delusions, and more- the list is very, very long. To my Mom, she just isn’t the same person anymore. So when I talked to her in the last year or so I found myself delighted to realise that to me, she is the same Nana. She doesn’t talk about her paranoid worries or her negative feelings- she laughs and shares memories with me, and she seems uplifted. I realised, then, that I have a special place that nobody else has. As her only grandson (she has another granddaughter besides my sister) I have a special place nobody else has- and she shelters our conversations from her worries and cares. She’s still Nana with me, and as a result I can share things with her that nobody else can. Perhaps, also, I can help support her in a way nobody else can, too. Her two daughters have trouble talking with her because of the grief they feel at her slipping further and further into her miseries. Yet I know part of her clinging to them is loneliness. But since their conversations always focus around problems- they dread those conversations.

So I’ve decided that whenever I’m a little lonely, whenever I feel like talking, I will try giving her a call. If she talks about negative things, I’ll drift off- negative response- and when things are positive and pleasant I’ll respond positively. It’s a common conversational technique you can learn from any psychology class or speaking class- and it helps the other person, as they’ll begin to enjoy the conversations more. More than anything, though, I just want to get close to my extended family again. Nana is slipping away- eventually she’ll be gone even if her body remains- and I want to treasure who she is while she is there. I know that if my grandpa Ross was still around, I’d want to do the same with him.

When I was little- up to even two years old- Granda Dick still worked with AT&T and would travel a lot, and they would always try to get around where we were. Nana would stay with my parents and help care for me. When we got older, we saw them less, but I always felt a special connection with Nana that I never quite felt with Mammaw- perhaps because Nana was a lot like my Mom, and so I related to her better.

I encourage folks reading to think about someone you can talk to sometime soon that perhaps you can bless by either sharing with or receiving from.

-Patrick

Christmas Gift Idea- Food!

I know that at Christmas one of the hardest things to do can be to
decide what sort of gift a person might desire. That, and the
every-important question- what FOOD do I make for Christmas and how
hard/stressful will the preparation be?

Well, a year or so ago I discovered a potential solution- and recently
I have been able to try it out. I would personally like to reccomend a
solution to both of these problems! The Home Bistro
is a cataologue and internet gourmet restaurant that serves itself in
your own house. They have a selection from tastey everyday type meals,
to some incredible gourmet style dishes that change with every season.
We were given a wonderful gift by my Mom- a gift certificate to order a
certain amount from them, and we recently had two nights of meals from
these gifts, particularly including our anniversary dinner. Not only
were they delicious and of a very fine quality, but they were easier to
prepare than making your own spaghetti (boiling the pasta and putting
on the jarred sauce).

My first meal included this blackened
chicken with champagne sauce- and it was incredible, I liked it even
better than the lamb I had Wednesday night. The only thing you have to
do to make it look like above is to slice it yourself, and sprinkle
some fresh herbs on. Wow was it tastey! Oh, and you can add your own
salt and  pepper (I use freshly ground mixed pepper-corns, and I
used my BEST gourmet Fleur de Sel sea salt to give it an extra
something!). There are some incredible gourmet seafood selections too,
but since I dislike seafood, I avoided them- though they looked
tempting even to me.

What they do is they prepare dry ice packets directly around the sealed
food, and then pack it in a container with more dry ice, and ship it.
It will still be extra-frozen when it arrives. You pop it in your
freezer and it is ready to go at desire! When you cook it, all you do
is boil the water, put in the multiple little packets (they package the
meat, pasta, veggies, etc sepereately for each meal) and- while cooking
times vary a little depending on the dish- boil them for about 9-12
minutes together. You can do multiple meals at a time, too, just veer
closer to 12 minutes. You bring it down to simmer once you plop them
in. Then, when they finish, you follow the simple directions to drain
the packets, put them on the plate, and whala- gourmet meal. If you can
follow simple directions and boil water- and make sure it stays at a
simmer- you can cook this food.

Gift Idea

So, you can do multiple things with this. First, you can have them ship
it directly to someone as a gift of gourmet food! Another idea is what
my Mom did for us- get them a wonderful gift certificate, and let them
buy their own food. Finally, you can use it on yourself! It's best when
you buy a bunch at once, because it saves on shipping, obviously. You
can use it to make a wonderful Christmas dinner- and it doesn't cost
more than it would to go out to eat at, say, Carrabas or Outback
Steakhouse. Just think of the shipping cost as the "tip". Oh, and if
you want any fresh greens like a salad, you have to provide that
yourself- obviously, freezing a salad would be a BAD idea.

I had this appetizer Wednesday night
for our anniversary meal (three years!) and it was DEEEELICIOUS. Lots
of sauce, too, so when I finished eating it I used some nice bread to
soak up the sauce and munch on it. So filling, that after the soup I
had next I had to wait a few hours before eating the lamb for the main
course. Oh, and believe it or not, you CAN make it look just like the
above picture- though for the fresh green herbs sprinkled on it you
need some of your own fresh parsley or such.

Not only that, but if they make a mistake or if you don't like the
food- they'll fix it. They took one item off our order without telling
us, and when I wrote them by email, they send an item in replacement-
express shipping (so it'd make it in time) and all FREE! We ended up
saving money by their mistake!

I know this is one big "advertisement" in a way, but I am happy with
the experience and I think that it's a really neat new way to help out
this season. It won't work for low-budget gifts, but I'm sure some
folks will find it quite helpful to save in higher budget areas!

This was our one dessert- since you
have to order six at a time. I prefer not-so-rich desserts, so I
avoided the chocolate and compromised to this with Katrina. Very
tastey, though I am sure the chocolate desserts are good too!

-Patrick

PS- Next meal, I'll take a picture and share it. They have some nice
looking food- and you can make it look almost as nice as it does in
their professionally fixed photos, too.

Review- Chronicles of Narnia

Stars: 4

That is a four out of four star rating, of course!

In the South Carolina state paper for the Friday "Weekend" section they
took a review from a Florida newspaper to use, and after reading the
first two or three sentence paragraph I tore it up. The fellow gave it
2.5 stars and said it was "Lord of the Rings- Lite" for children and
people who couldn't handle the actual LoTR. I believe this man
incredibly mistaken.

The Lord of the Rings is a completely different story than this
book/movie, and while there are some similarities- after all, WETA
workshop who helped with LoTR helped with this movie, and the two
writers were good friends- they are very different movies. Most
importantly, Narnia is a childrens book series- might as well compare
Harry Potter to LoTR. As for Narnia vs Harry Potter- I say, Harry, eat
some dirt.

If you are going to say this Narnia movie is similar to anything, you'd
have to say it is like combining Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and a
dash of "The Passion of the Christ" for flavour. Yes, it is a unique
and incomparible movie. This is the only book-made-movie... perhaps
only movie period- in my life I have ever seen that I could not
personally see a strong criticism for any point or part in it. Disney
did such an incredible job of bringing the book to screen and yet
keeping everything true to its heart. The child actors did an
incredible job- and the entire movie was carried by parts such a little
Lucy, endearing Tumnus, and most of all the compassion and sacrifice of
Aslan. The movie seems a little like two "styles" in one- the first
half has one distinct 'feel' to it, and the second half has another
unique "feel" (one which lends itself a little more to a Lord of the
Rings sort of feel at times). Of course, the only similarity with Lord
of the Rings is just the fantasy setting and epic battles, really. In
these battles you have over sixty races- I didn't see that in LoTR.
Also, while Lord of the Rings has some very interesting Christians
undertones- a lot of people could argue some of those points. However,
Narnia- well quite easily enjoyed by anyone- is clearly intended by the
Author as an analogy for the Christian faith. Aslan is a means to help
people to know Jesus character without the association of the name. I
say this having seen the cartoon and read the book before I knew the
two were the same. Of course, when you get to later books, Aslan
himself says that "I am known by many names" and one in particular in
their world. In "The Last Battle", when Narnia ends and all go to be
with Aslan forever, Aslan turns into a man- and reveals himself for who
he is.

Of course, this movie doesn't need all that side knowledge to be great.
Lucy is the heart of the movie- her childlike imagination, the adorable
expressions of joy, of pain, even heart-wrenching tears several times.
Each of the four children are so well developed as characters- it is
easy to look into the movie and see better different aspects of what
C.S. Lewis might have been trying to convey through each child.

Watch the Movie- and know some backstory

Some things that might help you to appreciate the movie are some little backstory pieces. This shouldn't spoil the story of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
of course, but if you're worried, then I understand if you don't read
on. This will, however, give you a summary of what happens in the book The Magicians Nephew to help ones appreciation of this story.

The Professor and the backstory: The Professor the children stay with
is an eccentric character. It becomes easily clear- through his well
acted performance- that when the children mention the wardrobe he
realises that anything involving the wardrobe has special significance.
Why? Well, though this 'book' was written first, the first book
chronologically in the series is "The Magicians Nephew". Digory was a
boy in this one, and he discovered a forest where pools lead to various
worlds. They found one world- a dead one, with none left alive- which
had one single person preserved by magic. His friend, a girl named
Polly I think, mistakenly set loose this woman who reveals she was the
last queen of the world and a powerful sorceress. They take her back to
their world where she wreaks havoc! Her magic is not useful there, but
she still causes a clamor.

In the middle of a panic scene, the children use the magic rings that
brought them to the forest between worlds to get them back- and
transport a stagecoach driver, his coach, his horse, the sorceress, and
the iron lampost piece that the sorceress had broken off, into a
completely black world. Black... because it had not yet been created.

NARNIA begins-
The world that begins to be "sung into being" by a mysterious lion
starts slowly and grows. Life is sung into it- as plants come, and then
animals that can talk. Of course, life is still budding, so at some
point the lamp-post iron falls into the ground and... yes... it grows
into a full lamp post. The sorceress gets loose, and Aslan sends digory
on a mission to protect the new kingdom in Narnia from the evil he set
loose in it by finding a magical fruit in a far-away garden. The fruit
has the power to protect narnia for many long years. However, when
Digory gets there, he finds the sorceress has been there- she ate the
fruit, and turned... you guessed it... white. Thus the white witch
begins. She tries to tempt him to eat it, and to bring it back to his
dying mother- because it has the power to heal. But Digory was warned
by Aslan- do NOT try to eat or steal it, but take it back to plant. He
stays the course. The tree is planted, and Aslan gives Digory one of
the fruit the new tree bears- telling him that if he had stolen it,
only horrible things would have come from it. Even if his mother had
healed, she would have wished she never had. Digory and Polly return to
earth- but with the magical fruit. Digory feeds it to his mother, who
becomes better.

The WARDROBE-
Incidentally, the fruit- after being eaten- was thrown into the yard.
It sprung up into a tree, quicker than any tree they'd seen grow. While
the tree was not bearing magical fruit like the one in Narnia did, the
fruit was incredible delicious regardless. The tree grew big and lasted
a long time- and when finally its time was over, digory had the tree
cut into a wardrobe.

Yes, the very same wardrobe that Digory- now a Professor- keeps in his
own home, until such a time that the four children in this movie arrive
and stumble into it.

-Patrick

I thought I would keep up with the playful spirit and continue a game that recently came my way from an old online friend.

I was tagged by Nicole.

The Rules

The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird
habits of yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a xanga
entry about their own 5 weird habits and state this rule clearly. In
the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be "tagged" and list
their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says, "you are
tagged" in their xanga and tell them to read yours.

My Five Weird Habits
5) When I'm daydreaming, sitting on my
computer writing or playing a game, or even reading- I'll get an
expression where I seem to frown and my face will get a little tighter
with my brow furrowed. When I realise this, sometimes, I'll relax my
face. Katrina brought this to my attention when we were engaged- she
enjoyed watching this "concentrated look" I get.

4) Okay, okay... it started when I was little that I, of course, would
pick my nose. Now... well, I'll admit it, I sometimes still do, but I
put it into a tissue or toilet paper and wash my hands afterwards.
However, when I was little, ahem, I'd eat the boogers. Yeah yeah, I
know, that was gross. I went to booger-eaters anon and I'm all better
now.

3) Occasionally, I'll eat condiments. Yes, you heard me. I like to
experiment with "flavours". Sometimes I'll get a craving, maybe twice a
year or more, and I'll, say, try eating some sea salt (the big chunks,
not the little grains)- straight up. When I was around sixteen, I
remember I started sipping some Texas Pete hotsauce- seriously, right
from the bottle. I think my most recent odd exploit was to eat honey
straight up, and a little before that- when I got some unique vinegars,
I drank Balsamic vinegar. When I say drink, now, I mean "sip", not
guzzle. So, yes, this is number three on my list of weird habbits- get
over it.

2) I'll call my parent's house, and whenever I get my sister, we'll quite often go like this:

“Hi there Patrick!”

“Hello Colleen, how are you today?”

“I’m doing fine, how are you?”

“Good! How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine, how are you?”

“I’m good. How are you doing?”

“Fine, what about you?”

Etc, etc. We’ll also more often go…

“Hello?”

“Hi Colleen, this is Patrick.”

“Hello Patrick.”

“Hi Colleen!”

“Hello Patrick!”

“Hello Colleen!”

“Hello Patrick!”

“Hello Colleen!”

“Hello Patrick!”

 And yes, we’ll keep at this until one of us-
usually me- starts laughing and continues on.

1) Ahhh... and the number one, top weird habbit on this chart
iiiiis...  perching. Yes, my Mom used to call me her little
native, or monkey, because when I sat on our stool-like chairs to eat
dinner I would "perch" on them. Basically, I would squat so my knees
were up a little below my chin and my feet on the edge (sometimes
middle, too) of the chair. To me, this was just a very comfortable
position, and I would crouch all the time- when we were on the floor
for school, eating dinner at home, and... well... ahem... yes, even in
certain other private areas when using the utilities. Yes, that's my
weird habbit that until right now hardly anyone knew about. Well, my
teachers knew about it in fourth grade. They would come into the
restroom when I'd been in there too long, and notice that there was no
feet under the stall. They'd leave and look around, then finally
realise I WAS in there- and get REALLY mad at me. Of course, when I
explained that was just a trait of mine, and who wanted a dirty toilet
seat on their tush when tons of icky fourth graders used it constantly-
besides, it was COLD- she realised she couldn't really justify
punishing me, and just gave up.

Now, before you go getting all weirded out by my traits, just
realise- I had the courage to share my REAL weird traits. We all have
them. Do YOU have that courage?

Now to spread the joy.......

Tagged Next...
Leslea, Lindsay, Bethany, Ben, April

Bottle of... joy?

I suppose the phrase is more "bundle of joy". Yesterday was about the
four week end period where Conor could begin feeding from a bottle
without "nipple confusion" occuring. This is a problem that can happen
when a baby is breastfed which results in the child needing to stay
away from bottles the first four weeks. So last night Katrina
breast-pumped and fed Conor his first bottle- which he accepted gladly,
apparently. Today, she attempted to have me feed Conor a bottle- and it
ended quite poorly. I think, personally, a large part of the reason was
not my "method", technique, or his simple sudden grouchy mood. Rather,
it was because whenever he made eye-contact he realised I was not
Katrina, his Mom, and he would cry all the harder for it. It makes
sense that, considering Katrina has spent 24/7 time with him- not even
putting him down to sleep- the fact that I was suddenly feeding him and
not her would literally freak him out. Of course, what bothered me was
no the predictable reaction of the baby but the strong and vehement
reaction of the Mother. It was tolerable to handle Conor being upset at
this strange man feeding him. I could handle Katrina being upset. Yet
the two together was a bit much, and so I had to get some time alone
to- well, quite honestly, cry it out. When the two people I love the
most are in a panic and upset, and vocalising it, I think that is a
stress I do not like much.

Katrina is having a great deal of trouble, mainly because the bottle
feeding is a 'landmark'. It marks that Conor is four weeks old- and now
about a month old. It marks that in a tad less than four more weeks,
her maternity leave ends and she goes back to work. It marks that in a
month, I will be spending more time with Conor than she is- something
she dreads not because of me, but because she dreads loosing that time
with him. The result is not very good- she does not want to even
consider leaving the house without him, even now that she can with
bottle feeding.

I'm encouraging her to try to go to La Leche league meetings to begin
getting group interaction with other mothers- but she's told me that if
I like the idea, I should go. *chuckles* Of course, that quite defeats
the point. I'm worried about Katrina isolating herself- staying inside,
staying inactive, having no contact with friends. The only good thing
for that coming up is, perhaps, the four days or so we will be spending
up in North Carolina before Christmas with her Dad's family. I
sincerely hope this time will quite honestly force her to have constant
people interaction. The negative side is, she'll have to leave- and the
withdrawel will hit hard. I'm beginning to think that the only thing I
can really do is to begin to try to invite people over and bring people
in. Otherwise, when work starts, Katrina will crash- literally crash-
into full throttle depression and overwhelming breakdowns. Oh, she'll
deny this, but already the seems are coming loose and it isn't even
within two weeks. If I hold the baby out of her sight for minutes, she
comes to find me if she isn't in the bathroom or shower.

I know that right now, at this time, as a husband who will soon be the
caregiver to Conor, the best thing I can do is try to push for
interaction and contact with friends- old and new- as the only solution
to depression is to break the isolation. Isolation is the killing edge
of depression, especially post-partum.

-Patrick