Children Who Run With the Wolves

Elliot's school has been closed most of this week so that the teachers can attend the Southeastern Washington Autism Conference and learn lots of great things to bring back to the kiddos. I really can't complain about the school being closed, since it only happens a couple of weeks out of the entire year, but it's always a challenge keeping the boy occupied!

Yesterday, I took the kids to the Oregon Zoo, where we hadn't been for a couple of years. The last time we went, Elliot was obsessed with railroad crossing signs, and we didn't get past the signs that marked the zoo train outside the elephant exhibit. We visited the railroad crossing signs this time, but only briefly.


We did the whole zoo this time around. Imogen was way more interested in the animals than Elliot, but we all had a great time walking around. For comparison, here is Elliot on the John Deere tractor at the farm exhibit yesterday and in January, 2005.


And I know I have another picture of Elliot by this same carving a couple of summers ago, but apparently it's not in digital form, so I can't show it to you here. One of the things I like best about Portland's zoo is the cool art that's all over the grounds.


I've always had conflicted feelings about zoos. I know they play an integral role in species conservation and in educating the public about the importance of the natural world. But I've always thought so many of the animals in the zoo look kind of sad. The polar bear was walking a few steps forward, then back, wagging his head, and looked completely miserable. And there's something just wrong about two bald eagles in a cage, even if it's a really big one. But the meerkats seemed happy enough, even if they were quite a bit chunkier than their wild cousins.


That was the only animal shot I took. The wildlife photographer wannabe in me just can't bring myself to take pictures of animals in enclosures. But we were communing with mister fatty meerkat, so I couldn't resist.

Elliot really wanted to see the wolves, but alas, the zoo just lost its last gray wolf a couple of weeks ago. Elliot was hoping to howl with them. But we did find these cool wolf statues.

We also checked out the kids' sculpture garden, where Imogen finally got to escape the backpack and throw dirt all over her head.


And finally, here is Elliot swinging like a monkey outside the orangutan exhibit.

When I asked Elliot what his favorite thing at the zoo was, he said it was the elevator at the light rail station across from the zoo entrance, even though we didn't get to ride it because it was out of order. The northern spotted owl was a close second, though, since we didn't get to hang out with the wolves. Aroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

It Takes A Village

First off, here is your daily dose of cuteness. Here are Imogen and her much-beloved kittens (Ismene on the left and Antigone on the right).


This weekend we attended a fence-building work party at our friends Sally and Denny's house. The work party was part of a group we call the Barn Raising Collective. The Collective was started back in 2000 as a group of four households who participated in monthly work parties at each other's houses. We were all new home owners, and we all needed help with numerous projects. It's amazing how an overwhelming task from your to-do list can turn into a fun event that gets knocked out in a few hours when you have a group of friends helping you out.

The Barn Raising Collective has gone through several incarnations in the past eight years, and it now is a group of 18 households. We have work parties as they are needed, and folks attend the work parties that they can, thereby earning points to host their own work parties. The Collective has been a fabulous experiment in the power of community. We'll be having a work party of our own in the fall to take down the enormous arborvitae hedge in our backyard and put up a fence instead, so stay tuned!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's work party. Elliot and Imogen came to hang out in the afternoon (Papa took them for the morning so I could attend the work party - I love fence raising!). The kids had a great time with Sally and Denny's kiddos, Wren and Violet.


There was a delicious mid-day meal of grilled chicken and watermelon (Violet really rivals Imogen for cutest girl on the planet, doesn't she?).


Imogen had her first ride on Papa's shoulders.


And here is a photo I like to call "Mattgate".


And here is the crew at the end of a successful afternoon work party.


I must remember to be thankful daily for the wonderful friends and community we have here in Portland. Once in awhile, some of us talk longingly about buying a huge property out in the woods somewhere someday and building houses for each other all over it. Many days, I think the Amish have it right, and so does Hillary Clinton - it takes a village. We need the help of our friends, family, and other parents to build strong communities and raise our children. The Barn Raising Collective (which inspired a satellite group among our friends in Seattle) is just one step. So let me hear from you - what is the importance of community in your lives? How do you create it for yourselves? What would we do without it?

On Re-Visioning

I heard the coolest story on NPR's Weekend Edition today. Composer Lee Johnson has written what he calls the Dead Symphony No. 6, which is derived from music by the Grateful Dead, to be performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on what would have been Jerry Garcia's 66th birthday next week. What's fantastic is that the composer wasn't even a Dead Head to begin with, but he's created symphonies on all kinds of topics, and this one is meant to be based on American culture. You can listen to the story (and the music) here. I imagine it will be an interesting opening night - a mix of symphony season ticket holders and tie-dyed Dead fans.

I love the concept of re-visioning. That is, not to revise but rather to vision again, vision anew. Adrienne Rich discusses this concept in her famous feminist essay, "When We Dead Awaken: Writing As Re-Vision," in which she defines re-vision as "the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction." Her essay speaks specifically to the importance of re-vision for women, but I think it's valuable to all of us - women, male composers, and otherwise.

At Reed College way back in 1994, my senior thesis (inspired largely by Anne Sexton's Transformations poems) was a series of poems re-visioning fairy tales, folklore, and myths that have animal transformation motifs as their center. Some of the poems were actual re-tellings of the transformation tales, and some were re-tellings of other tales, using the animal transformation motif to transform the stories into something else. It was an amazing year of writing for me, for in looking anew at these old stories, I was in turn finding my true poetic voice. Here are three poems from my thesis for you (the poems were written in sets of three, but these have been excerpted from their triads). I think you'll recognize the three princesses.


Rapunzel

Wait Mister. Which way is home?
They turned the light out
and the dark is moving in the corner.
-Anne Sexton, "Music Swims Back to Me"

Let down your hair they say to me, those two who crawl about below me. Let down your hair. They mean out the window, but what is a window up here but a suicide door, a black hole, an unmended pocket? It is a kind of mystery how I got here to begin with: I am the chicken, the egg, the single cell. No one will ever say to me Pussy cat, where have you been? I visit the queen of this small round space. I frighten the mouse of myself, chasing my own split ends. I am the crooked cat. I am the last of the Furies, the Banshee of the Attic. They call to me, Let down your hair. And so I do. But not to them. Oh no, not out that window. They howl at me like dogs, hissing in their own poor skins for love of me. But I do not need a mother now the darkness rocks me to sleep. I do not need a lover now the stones wrap me in their arms. Let down your hair. So I do, and I run about shrieking in my own cylindrical space. My hair knows every possibility. It is a noose, a rope, a blanket, a ladder, a nest. I let it choose. It crawls about the space like a school of fish; it is as soft as the wind. I do not need a mother now my body has taken me in. I do not need a lover now my fingers make windows of my self. My hair is like a key, a hand, an infinite expanding space. I do not need a mother now I look through the keyholes of my own eyes. I do not need a lover now my hands expand into universes of skin. Today they call Let down your hair, and I do. It chooses the pocket with the bottomless hole, and today I choose to follow it through the door. Hush. I am not mad. Listen. I am a cat. I bathe myself with my own tongue. I always land on my feet.

Brittney Corrigan, copyright 1994. All rights reserved.


Beauty and the Beast

It really is not so bad, living in the castle.
The ceilings drip a little and the halls are dark
and at night when I am lying in bed
the walls breathe with the wind...
but there is a comfort in the stone
and in the courtyard which is its heart.

Once, the only thing belonging to me was a heart.

And now - somehow - I have always lived in the castle.
I have always been surrounded by stone...
(The hearts of my sisters were always dark
and my father's face was like the wind -
fluttering the petals of an empty flowerbed.)

I came here: to a hidden one's bed.

He would show me only his heart,
only at dinnertime, and its strings would wind
about my fears. All other times, it seemed the castle
was filled with something I could not see. The sun was dark
in the courtyard, dark on the flagstones.

For a long time, my kind eyes were flecked by stone.

Though he never approached my bed
in the nakedness of the unbiased dark,
I believed in the ugliness surrounding his heart
as much as I believed in the magic of the castle
or in the power of a snow-backed wind.

I did not realize at first that his coat was made of wind.

His sharp nails and pointed teeth were carved from stone,
and a curse made a prison of his castle.
He lay in the cell of his bed
and believed in the beating of his heart
as I stumbled about in the dark -

ness. To shift a shape, one must travel though a pillar of dark.

What I learned was to wind
it around me like spun yarn, to cup the heart
of it in my hands like a soup stone,
to lie in it as if breathing miraculously from a riverbed,
to emerge in the courtyard of the castle.

The ceremony of my heart unstatued stone.

I ate up the dark of his skin and his coat of wind.

My heart is an oysterbed: an infinite pearling of castles.

Britney Corrigan, copyright 1994. All rights reserved.


Silkworm Dream

I don't remember how I found it: what room it was in, who led me there, what time it was, or what I was wearing. But I remember the spinning wheel: how it was bent and gray like an old woman, how the old thread hung from it like hair, and how it one eye turned - circling and circling - pedaling itself to me. And how sharp it was... it was like a wasp, a brooch, a shattered cup. I touched its hair, and it laughed and crumbled. I fastened to it, I sipped, and it spun me into dream, into such rooms of sleep. I am eating mulberry like cream. I am spinning like a dreidle, I am twisting like a spindle in my larva house. I am trapped in a circle of thorns, where twelve small women fuss about me like little magdalens - their eyes pasted shut, their palms empty of gifts. But I am a worm. I squirm in my legless skin, I spin from end to end. I coffin myself in silk. I am wiggling about the mulberry bush from morning until dusk until silk drops from me like rain. I am an unwinding spool. I am making myself a shell like a bean, a little white grenade. I am crawling inside, I am dancing at the head of the pin. How I grow wings in here! Soft powdered wings like mouse fur. Do not wake me. I am spinning myself a silk house, I am growing a moth heart. Do not wake me. Do not kiss me with your lips like red cocoons. Oh, do not wake me. I am dreaming. I am spinning straw into gold.

Brittney Corrigan, copyright 1994. All rights reserved.


I haven't visited those princesses in years. It's kind of nice to hang out with them again!

And on a completely different note, I cannot leave you without some pictures. So first up, here is the promised photo of the three American Idols taken by Thomas with his phone in downtown Portland.


And here is Elliot falling asleep while getting his hair cut by Destinie at Clackamas Town Center, where Elliot and Papa go often to ride elevators, eat snacks, and get prettified.


Now maybe I should head off to nap with my own little princess, who's been passed out in the backpack for this entire post. Happy weekend!

Online Writing, Meow Meow, Online Art

I'm proud to announce that I am the poetry editor for a new online literary journal being launched in October that will celebrate the autistic spectrum. Here are the details.

Hyperlexia: A Literary Journal Celebrating the Autistic Spectrum is looking for your fiction, poetry, and personal essays. Our inaugural issue, which will be found at www.hyperlexiajournal.com, is planned for October. Send to submissions@hyperlexiajournal.com. Deadline for submissions is August 31st.

Submission guidelines:
* Hyperlexia is interested in honest, thoughtful, well-written poetry and prose about being autistic and loving someone with autism. We want genuine and truthful writing about autism. Our journal is a celebration of real life with autism, both the good and the bad. You can be serious, sad, or funny. We believe in respecting the diversity of the human mind and discriminatory writing or hatred of any kind will not be published.
* Submissions should be 1500 words or less.
* Send submission inside the body of the email, as well as attached as a Word doc.

My co-editors and founders of the journal are Kerry Cohen Hoffmann and Phoebe Gleeson. Please pass the word to anyone you know who might be interested in submitting work, and keep your eye out for the first issue in October!

And speaking of art online, check out my step-father-in-law's (that'd be Papa Mr. Vic Victor) artwork on his page on the Ovation TV website. You can see his artwork on the photos section of his page. Last Christmas, he made us this amazing shadowbox piece, titled "Orange Boots, The Star Hanger." I like the shadow effect created by the sunlight as I photographed it on the back porch this morning.

And I'll leave you with this video of little Miss Idgie playing with the kittens last night.

In the words of Henrietta Pussycat from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood of Make-Believe (as a shout out to Bryce and Ellen!), "Meow meow, cute!, meow meow!".

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

First, in a follow up to yesterday's post, here is a link to the piece on KOIN 6 news about Michael Savage and School of Autism. And here is a link to Savage's response on CNN. And that's all the blog time this guy is going to get from me! For those of you in Portland, though, mark your calendars for August 28th. On that day, Washman Car Washes is donating 50% of its sales to School of Autism. We're hoping to raise about $10k, so please consider getting your car washed at one of the Washman locations (check out the link for addresses) on that day.

And here is a picture of Imogen showing off her newest skill this past weekend. She is now free standing for about 10 seconds at a time.


Elliot walked at 11 months old, and I think Imogen is going to be an early walker, too. I can't wait for her to be able to play chase with her brother (or run away from him) and bounce on the trampoline. Go, girl!

Three Unrelated Things

Thing One. (Which is technically two related things.) The kittens have names!


There were several good suggestions, including:

Thelma & Louise (very tempting)
Venus & Serena (if we were sports fans)
Nan & Flossie (can't name a cat after my mother-in-law)
Charlotte & Emily (I know too many toddlers with these names, alas)
Midnight & Snowball (I had a cat named Midnight as a little girl)
LucyFur & Gabriella (can't name a cat after a good friend's daughter - no, not LucyFur)
Glinda & Elphaba (These came close!)
Ophelia & Desdemona (Yes, we were definitely thinking Shakespeare...)
Stella & Maggie (again, a friend's daughter, and also my mom's cat's name)
Salome & Jezebel (oooo, good ones)
Hermione & Cho (I actually wanted to name them Flourish and Blott, after the bookstore in Harry Potter, but, somewhat surprisingly, Thomas nixed it.)
Brian & Setzer (Hmm, boys' names. Interesting idea...)
Dolce & Viva (for international flair)
Salt & Pepper (already taken by a friend's cats)
And various other black-and-white animal and food combinations.

In the end, we picked Antigone and Ismene, the daughters of Oedipus in Greek mythology. Our Reed Humanities 110 professors would be so proud. We're calling them Tiggy and Mene (or Izzy, we'll see what sticks) for short.

Here is Ismene, the runt, checking out the train table.


And this is Antigone.



They are wonderful, lovey kitties. Meow!!

Thing Two. Going to the dentist can be fun. Due to the many sensory issues Elliot has surrounding his mouth, we had not yet taken him, now nearly 5 years old, to the dentist. I just couldn't imagine how it would be successful, on several levels. How would they get him to sit still, open his mouth, and let them put things in it? It seemed impossible, or at the very least traumatic. But Elliot has been complaining of mouth pain these past couple of weeks, and a friend recommended Dr. Allan Pike. As my friend puts it, he is the Mr. Rogers of the dental world. And this turns out to be exactly true.

Dr. Pike's philosophy of pediatric dentistry is "no force, no pain". He believes that it's not the teeth that are the most important thing, but rather that the child develop a positive association with going to the dentist, leading to life-long dental health. Our experience in Dr. Pike's office this morning was amazing. He works with many kids on the autism spectrum, and his many years of experience figuring out what works best is immediately apparent. He spent an hour with us, showing us the office (which includes a "cartoon room" for when kids need a break and some gerbils which Elliot got to feed), the flat tables instead of scary motorized chairs, and the one big room that houses all the stations so the kids can all see each other. The hygienist worked with Elliot while I talked to Dr. Pike, and she was able to clean his teeth with a toothbrush, floss, and give him a fluoride treatment.

Unfortunately, Elliot has four cavities (he is apparently very prone to developing them, and we'll be cutting out sweets and fruit leather). Dr. Pike assessed Elliot just by looking in his mouth - no scary x-rays. Then they did a "trial run" of a filling, using laughing gas and going through the motions of giving him an injection and putting the drill in his mouth. He didn't protest one bit. We'll be going back next week for the actual fillings, so I'll keep you posted! I'm so thankful to have found such a compassionate, understanding, and dedicated dentist.

Thing Three. Yesterday, a right-wing radio host, Michael Savage, spent his show basically calling autism a fraud. The controversy around the show has been immense. As a wise friend tells me, though, that's just what this nut job wants - he thrives on negative attention - and why should we spend our valuable time being angry with someone so clearly insensitive and wrong, thereby giving him the power he craves? On the up side, the controversy led one of our local news stations, KOIN 6, to come to Elliot's school (School of Autism) today to interview teachers and parents about how they feel about Savage's comments. Hopefully the piece, which will air on the 5pm news today, will be good publicity for the school and the autism community and not just more attention for a despicable human being. If the story shows up on their website, I'll post a link to it tomorrow.

Who knew that dentists could be nicer human beings than radio hosts? Though I think the kittens take the top prize today for most fun to be around!

Where the Girls Were

Imogen and I just spent a lovely weekend with the girls for our third annual summer getaway. Instead of the coast, this year we headed to Sandy, Oregon and stayed at a wonderful vacation home, the Riverwoods Lodge. It's a gorgeous log home nestled in the woods on the Sandy River, complete with hot tub, sauna, and all the amenities.


It was a fabulous, relaxing weekend. We even watched Fried Green Tomatoes in honor of Idgie (who was named for the main character). On Saturday we walked down to the river.


The riverbank was a good place for yoga...

...and meditation...


...and a snack.


Imogen loved sitting in the sand and examining leaves and sticks while the water rushed past.

When we got home, it didn't take but three seconds to talk Thomas into adopting two of the stray kittens that our friend Allegra found a couple of weeks ago abandoned in an alley. Here are the newest girls in our family.


Imogen may not like to play in her playpen anymore, but the kittens sure do.


The kitten sisters are still unnamed today, after much discussion last night. Here's your chance to name them! We're taking suggestions. Currently in the running are Billie and Ella (all cats love jazz) and Kodak and Fuji (on the black-and-white theme). Or maybe something from Greek mythology? Or Shakespeare? Or children's literature? Help us out! Name announcement and more pictures to follow soon!

Elliot's BFFs

A few weeks ago, Elliot started going to preschool at School of Autism five mornings a week. In the fall, he will start in the afternoon kindergarten class, where he'll spend the next two years. He absolutely loves being at school. Here he is getting his hands good and messy, which I never would have thought possible just a year or so ago.


Elliot has always been good at interacting with adults. In recent months, he has also taken an interest in other kids, especially little girls. But his interactions with other kids have still been awkward, since he is very good at invading personal space and doesn't usually listen to what the kids are saying to him - be it asking him to stop touching them or trying to get him to play a game. He recently learned to play hide-and-seek with his cousin Willow, though he always wants to do the counting (which is fine, because Willow likes to hide and giggle when he gets close).

But at fun school, Elliot is really and truly making friends. We were so excited to get these pictures this week of Elliot hanging out with his buddies. Here he is with his friend Xander. He and Xander were apparently inseparable on Wednesday - they walked around the playground holding hands, played Legos together, and wrestled on the bean bags.


And here is Elliot with a pile of cuddly friends.


Doesn't he look happy? We're so excited to see him being so comfortable and making so much progress at school. And we are thrilled that he is making friends who love him, understand him, and enjoy playing with him just the way he is, and just the way he plays.

Now I'm off to finish getting ready for a girls' weekend on Mt. Hood. Little Miss Idgie and I are heading out for the weekend and leaving the boys to have their boy adventures. Stay tuned for pictures of the girls!

Perfect 10

In honor of the upcoming Olympic Games, Imogen is scoring a perfect 10. Which is to say, she turned 10 months old yesterday. She still has just 2 teeth, but she's working hard on getting some more. She's a super fast crawler, is standing up and cruising furniture, and can climb stairs. And her hair is getting longer and crazier. Here she is hamming it up.


Imogen's latest trick is clapping. She loves to play pat-a-cake with Elliot, and she claps like crazy when she's eating. Here she is demonstrating her new-found skill.



And now for my favorite part of the month - the comparison photos! Here are Elliot and Imogen, each at 10 months old.


And for Elliot's latest trick, here he is singing "Pretty in Pink" with Papa on a hot summer afternoon.

Who knows, maybe Elliot is the next American Idol.

Never A Dull Moment

Things are always exciting when the Whites come to town. Of course, we started out our weekend with the very fun American Idol concert on Friday night. Unfortunately, both Erin and Willow were sick with some sort of stomach bug on Friday night. Thankfully (knock on wood) no one else has come down with it as of Monday afternoon. So we spent Saturday just hanging out and playing in the backyard while the girls recovered. Here are Tess, Grayson, and Willow being silly and loving up Imogen.


Here is Imogen practicing her new trick - clapping - with Aunt Tess.


And here is Willow cuddling with their dog Yankee, who just couldn't resist invading the playhouse at every opportunity.


Uncle Greg is now a proficient knitter, so he and I were comparing knitting projects. Here is Elliot modeling some of my knitting projects from awhile back - a felted hat and nice warm mittens (perfect outfit for a 90 degree day, no?).


And you can tell that Erin is feeling much better in this picture, which was taken before we left for our grand adventure on Sunday.


On Sunday afternoon we headed up to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington. This place was SO MUCH FUN. It's a fantastic spot to vacation with kids. It's a big hotel with a gigantic water park attached to it (water park passes are included with your stay). It also has all sorts of other things for kids to do (that cost extra - that's how they get ya!), such as an arcade and a Harry Potteresque magical quest that is spread out all over the stairwells and hotel floors. They also have an animatronic show and story time each evening in the lobby, with all the kids gathered around in their pajamas. Super fun.

Everyone had a great time at the Lodge. Elliot loved the water park almost as much as he loved riding the elevators at the hotel. And Imogen enjoyed her first swimming experience. She looked super cute in her little baby swimsuit, but alas, being a water park, we didn't bring our camera. She spent a lot of time splashing in the shallows while Elliot rode the slides over and over again. The big kids and grown ups rode the really big slide, but I decided to save that one for next time. There will definitely be a next time. We plan to make this an annual or more-than-annual excursion with the Whites. Big fun.

Whew! Now we're home and back to our crazy busy summer lives once more. We hope all of you are enjoying your summer as much as we are!

Sit Down, Standing Man

Remember my recent post in which I commented that I don't like crowds and noise? Well, scratch that. Because I love rock concerts. I have fond memories of the many concerts I attended at Red Rocks with my friends in high school, and I've enjoyed many a good outdoor concert as well as big stadium shows.

And my secret is out. I admit it. I love American Idol. For the past few years, Tess and I have been attending the American Idol tour together. Friday night, we went to the concert in Portland, and this year we brought Grayson and Emilie with us. Here we are getting ready to head out for the big event.


The concert was an absolute blast - the best of the concerts we've been to so far. All the contestants sounded fantastic, especially the sets by the two Davids, who were our favorites during the season. It was especially fun to take Emilie to her first concert ever, and Grayson also had a great time (he's no newcomer to concerts, having seen Cake in Victoria recently, including a trip backstage, since they are old friends of Greg's).

But the most memorable part of the concert was a fellow two rows in front of us who we referred to as "Standing Man". He did not sit down for the entire show, even when everyone else around him (including his boyfriend) - and everyone else in the stadium, for that matter - was sitting during the slow numbers. In the second half of the show, during Sayesha's set, two people behind us finally hollered some "down in front" comments at him, and he just sassed back and remained standing. It was almost comical, as he proceeded to rock out to a very slow number, hands in a rocker gesture and all, while everyone else sat quietly. It says something about Portlanders that they just gave up and let him be, deciding he just wasn't worth it and they'd just lean around him to see. Thomas commented that had the concert been in Detroit, he would have been tackled. But we're a friendly city. Maybe Standing Man was visiting from out of town.

Unfortunately, Standing Man was directly in front of me two rows up, and directly in back of him was Tall Girl. But I forgive Tall Girl. She can't help being tall, and at least she sat down when everyone else did. Even with my unfortunate section mates, I had a great time at the show. You can't beat being in the floor section about 10 rows from the stage and dancing without children attached to you. Imogen survived her longest time away from me so far, so I guess I'll have to start going out on the town more often.

Thomas has me beat, though. On Thursday afternoon, he was walking to his office downtown when he saw three of the contestants - Brooke, Ramiele, and Sayesha - having coffee. He went into the coffee shop, and they were nice enough to let him take their picture on his phone. What a good husband. I'd show you the picture, but we haven't figured out how to get it off of his phone yet. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

Now we're off for more weekend adventuring with the Whites. Woo hoo!

Oh, and I'm not letting all of you off the hook that easily. Only one of you out there told me how you would spend 30 days. Let me hear from the rest of you!

The Spice of Life

I was listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR yesterday, and they were talking to Bill Bishop, author of The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart. Bishop's view is that when we surround ourselves only with people who agree with our points of view - socially, politically, religiously, or otherwise - we create an extremely polarized world, with extreme consequences. Bishop thinks this clustering (sorry, Kerry, I know you hate that word!) is a threat to our democracy, which is set up to be a healthy exchange of ideas and viewpoints. It was fascinating.

I've also been thinking this week about Morgan Spurlock's program on FX, 30 Days. I love Morgan Spurlock. In fact, I'm bummed that I forgot to invite him to my pop culture dinner party. Y'all might remember Morgan from his film Super Size Me, in which he ate nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days in order to demonstrate how damaging fast food is to our bodies. If you haven't seen the show, 30 Days is a series of similar month-long experiments/experiences.

There are two basic types of 30 day experiments on the show (some done by Morgan himself, and some done by others). First, there are 30 days spent walking a mile in someone else's shoes (such as spending time in jail, living on minimum wage, working in a coal mine, etc.). Second, there are the shows in which someone with one point of view goes to live for 30 days with someone having the opposite point of view. In one show, a pro-choice activist goes to live with a pro-life minister and his wife who run a home for pregnant teenagers. In another show, a homophobic straight man goes to live in the Castro district of San Francisco with two gay men. The idea is that in spending time actually living with real people whose ideas differ from your own, you'll gain an understanding of and respect for their viewpoints, even if you don't change your mind. It's a fabulous concept.

So I've been thinking, if I could spend 30 days with people whose opinion or lifestyle is very different from my own, who would they be? I think I'd benefit from living with a military family, especially one with a family member currently in Iraq. I also think I could learn a lot living with a very right-wing, religious family (not an all-abortion-doctors-should-be-shot family, but a regular all-American family with views opposite my own). So here is my challenge to you: leave me a comment and let me know how you might spend 30 days learning about someone very different than yourself. I think the exercise of just thinking about what those 30 days might entail is beneficial in opening our hearts and minds to our neighbors and fellow human beings on this planet.

And finally, here is a picture of Elliot on the new gym equipment at fun school, with his pal Samantha. Being a child on the autism spectrum, Elliot daily teaches me the value of thinking differently, of putting yourself in someone else's shoes.


So, who will you be? A member of the big sort, or a citizen of true democracy? Let the games begin.

Boo

Those of you who know me well know that I love a good scary movie. And I don't mean a slasher flick (though I do have a fond memories of watching terrible B-movies with my pals in high school). I'm talking really, really scary. The what-you-don't-see-is-scarier-than-what-you-do-see, edge-of-your-seat suspense, give-you-nightmares kind of scary, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in.

My favorite director is M. Night Shyamalan. He's original, and his films are downright spooky. Yes, he's the guy who directed The Sixth Sense. But my personal favorite of his is The Village. I love that his movies often have surprise endings, and I love watching for his cameo in each flick. Yesterday, Thomas and I went on a date (no kids!) to see his new movie, The Happening. It's his first R-rated flick, and I must say I was really disappointed. No matter how much I tried to like the movie, him being my favorite director and all, it just wasn't very good. Too much what-you-see and not enough what-you-don't see for me, and the dialog was horrible. A pity, really, because the story idea is really original and had a lot of potential. And it did have a couple of really well done scenes, like the one from the previews with the people walking off the building.

It's ok, M. Night. I still love you. I still can't wait to see what you'll come up with next. Go back to PG-13, though. Go back to those scenes like the one in Signs in which the characters are holding a baby monitor up to the sky in the middle of a corn field listening for aliens, no soundtrack, just the crackle on the other end. It's a hair-raising scene. Just my kind of scary.

So, since The Happening was a let-down, I thought I'd recommend a few of my favorite scary movies to y'all (no, The Blair Witch Project did not make this list - I hated it and was bored silly - but The Ring came close and would have made the list if it was a little less slasher-ish).

1. The Changeling from 1980, starring George C. Scott. Ghost stories are my favorite, and this one is my favorite ghost story of all time. I still have nightmares about this flick.

2. The Village (see M. Night Shyamalan, above).

3. The Forgotten, starring Julianne Moore (one of my favorite actresses). So unique, so suspenseful, and so chilling.

4. The Others, starring Nicole Kidman. Another fantastic ghost story.

5. Panic Room, starring Jodie Foster. Love Jodie Foster. This one will give you an ulcer, it's so edge-of-your seat.

6. The Lost Room, a mini-series that ran on the SCI-FI channel, but it makes the list because it's absolutely brilliant.

7. The X-Files. This TV series from the 1990s makes the list for the same reason. But I'm talking about when it was still Mulder and Scully and before it started to suck. I'm really looking forward to the new X-Files movie coming out in a couple of weeks.

Sadly, Thomas is not a big fan of scary movies. I end up (stupidly) watching them by myself when he's out of town. But I manage to drag him to the theater once in awhile, and he does love the sci-fi, so that's something.

On a completely different note, I can't possibly wrap this up without meeting your cute kid quota for the day. Here is a video of Imogen having a fantastic time on the swing this past weekend.



With that voice, maybe she'll grow up to act in a good horror flick. As long as it's not a slasher, she'll make her Mama proud.

My Kind of Independence Day

Yesterday was my kind of Independence Day. Partly cloudy and in the low 70s, mellow, and hanging out with friends. We spent the day at Dabney State Park on the Sandy River with a passel of our good friends and had a fantastic time cooking, eating, playing, and wading.

Imogen spent the first part of the day playing with leaves, grass, and pine cones (who needs fancy toys, anyway?). Here she is ecstatically waving a pine cone around.


Elliot and the other kids donned some groovy 4th of July crowns while waiting for the hot dogs to cook.


After lunch, a gang of us headed down the trail to the river for some wading and stone skipping. Here are Elliot and his good pal Jasper (aka Huggy the Bunny) throwing sand and stones into the river.


And here's Jasper doing some wading with Nadine and Christine.


Even Imogen got her toes wet and sandy.


But she much preferred being cuddled and adored by all from a good vantage point. Here she is hanging out with Christine.


And here she is cozy and getting sleepy on Mama's back.


Back at the picnic site, Soren and Wren found a toad.


The sun made a good showing late in the afternoon. Here are Elliot and Imogen enjoying the sunshine.


We spent the evening at home relaxing. No fireworks for us yet - though the big display in Vancouver, Washington is quite close to our house, so we could hear them just fine. Luckily, our new neighborhood is nowhere near as rowdy as the old one, so the amateur fireworks tapered off by midnight (Elliot slept through the whole shebang, and Imogen settled down as they were ending).

We hope everyone had as nice a holiday as we did. Now we're off to enjoy the rest of a weekend with no big plans (for once!) - woo hoo!!