A Thursday thought

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Last night, #1 Son posted a comment on Facebook about how he apparently let somebody “get to” him, and that he should probably keep that person “at arm’s length.” In my response to him, I linked to this list, and I reread it myself (Suzanne — did you turn me on to this guy? I think you did.). Then, as usual, my thoughts meandered.

I recently told someone that my new philosophy for 2011 was “Let it Go.” I tested it bigtime last night for the first time this year. Someone posted something on FB and after I read it, I thought, “He means me.” But you know, we cannot control what other people do. We can only control how we respond to it. This person is transient in my life, and you can bet your last dime he’s not thinking about my reaction at all, so why should I worry about his? Let. It. Go.

A search on “letting go” revealed some interesting information on one site. (I’m certain “Dan & Jennifer” want to sell stuff, but I didn’t check into that, nor was I bombarded with ads.) Three sensible articles:

Banishing Negative People From Your Life
Hostility Blinds Us From the Truth
Letting Go

I found truth in all of them. They’re worth a read, and were actually helpful in my morning decision to press the Delete key and extricate this particular “letting go” problem from my consciousness.

Et voilà. Next!

Happy Almost Finkday to you, fiends. I’m off to Cincinnati soon………..


Words you must never use

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And not because I say so, but rather, because they make you sound like an…um….well, the name Yosemite Sam hurled at the gol dern dragon.

  1. Foci. (pronounced “foke eye”) There is absolutely no reason to use this word outside a mathematical discipline, unless you just can’t help your annoying, pretentious self. PJ always used it to refer to multiple areas of focus in music ed. research. PJ is the little man who captained the Boston University Titanic on which I sailed several years ago. I won’t elaborate, or I’ll be here all day. Suffice it to say that PJ liked to hear himself use fancy words. PJ is the reason I cringe every time someone says “cogent” or “agency” (in reference to adapting to a concept). PJ ruined those for me, too. PJ killed my inner child. PJ is a bad little PhD. PJ is bad. PJ.
  2. Brah. I suppose it’s a form of “bro” (a word which makes some limited sense), but please don’t use it to call out to your friends unless you want to sound like a Gangsta In Training. (You do the acronym. ;-))
  3. Supposably. I know, I know. “Supposably” is supposedly a word — sort of. I say “sort of” because the adverb form of  the unusual adjective “supposable” doesn’t really exist, but people use it anyway. (Only in America, folks. Only in America.) Just don’t say “supposably” when you really mean to say “supposedly.”
  4. Ironic. Well, you can use it, but please do so carefully. Many people confuse irony with coincidence. Behold: President Lincoln’s assassin shot him in a theater and hid in a warehouse. President Kennedy’s assassin shot him from a warehouse and hid in a theater. That’s not irony. It’s a doozy of a strange coincidence, but still — not ironic. Now what is irony? The Titanic was widely proclaimed “unsinkable,” but it beat feet to the ocean floor on its very first voyage. Whoa. I’ve used the word Titanic twice in one post. Ironic? NO. (Just unimaginative, sadly.)
  5. “I could care less.” If that’s the case, then you care a little. It’s possible that you could care less than you already care, but you’d still care some. You’re caring, however marginally. Now, if you couldn’t care less, it means you’re pretty much done caring; you’re at the bottom of the care barrel. There’s no more caring to go around. Caring less would mean negative caring, which doesn’t exist, so in truth, you simply could not care any less. So you don’t care. OK, I’ll quit now.
  6. 110%. Just…no.

Yes, I’m having a snark attack this morning. Does that make me a bad person? I apologize. I won’t take it out on you. That’s why I have high school students.

Short week, long drives

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Hey, remember (OK, you probably don’t, but I sure do) last year at this time, when I went to my music geek convention in Cincinnati and had a bit of an adventure on the way home? That was special indeed. Well, it’s time to go again, and I hope this year’s trip is far less interesting.

I will go to school today, tomorrow and Wednesday; then it’s “party” time (“party” = “meetings,” and maybe a concert or two). I can’t even sleep in. What a rip. The obvious exception is having lunch with Bando on Friday. Yay!

Outside of that, I’d rather be teaching and having evening rehearsals — although my students might disagree.

We won’t talk about the carnage on television yesterday, but suffice it to say that neither team I liked won. That’s that. Another season in the books. Blah.

Is it possible to have a good Monkday when it’s three degrees outside? I’m fixin’ to find out…

Review: Prince Caspian

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Sometimes, I’d rather not see a movie based on a book — especially a collection of classic novels. For instance, I’m not sure how I’ll feel about watching The Dark Tower films (if in fact they are ever made). I have too much of a personal and emotional investment in the books, which could be compromised by someone else’s vision. Know what I mean?

It didn’t happen with the Potter films, strangely enough. I’ve enjoyed them all so far. Looks like it’s the same for the Narnia series of films. We saw the second one last night. Some general observations:

  1. It wasn’t as captivating as the first movie, but as sequels go, that’s not particularly surprising. I was delighted, however, at how close some of the scenes matched my own construction from reading the book.
  2. Too. Many. Battle scenes. There weren’t just numerous battles, there were numerous lengthy battles. I guess that’s the nature of battles; just not my speed.
  3. I adore the personalities of the four children. By the second film, all four have changed. Peter is darker and more prideful, Susan more mature and introspective. Edmund puts his big-boy trousers on, and Lucy grows wiser. It was also fun to see how Ed and Lucy have grown (physically) since the last movie.
  4. The creatures were, as one would expect from a Disney film, quite well done, with seamless CG. Also just the right amount of grumpiness from Trumpkin; perfect sarcasm from Reepicheep. Always a wink somewhere in the script.
  5. Aside: We really enjoyed the commentary by BFF Kay and Bob, because much of the movie was filmed in Slovenia (where they lived six months out of every year for several years).
  6. I wish Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) would have decided on an accent and stayed with it.
  7. If you’re looking for blood-slinging fights, they don’t happen. The ubiquitous battles are tame — which I liked. No severed heads, dangling limbs or gushing wounds. Some would say that cheapens the effect, but I’d be quick to remind them that in the days before ratings were necessary, all gratuitous violence was subdued. It’s called using one’s imagination. Imagine that.

Still, it’s a wonderful story (if a bit overdone — think LOTR and various others), and I’m looking forward to seeing the latest film, which is still playing in theaters, at least for the time being.

On the Rat-O-Meter scale of five cheeses, I give The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian —

Happy Saturnday to you, fiends. I get the Js tonight and the Bears & Packers tomorrow. How about that for a weekend?

FO