jenny_wildcat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jenny_wildcat) wrote2010-05-27 12:00 pm
jenny_wildcat) wrote2010-05-27 12:00 pm
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I Feel Like Going on a Posting Spree Today!
Woke up this morning with a killer headache and the house was empty. The Young Men and Young Women are going on a shotgun shooting activity this morning. Mom's the Young Women president and Dad's the branch president, so they're in charge, plus my younger sisters are in Young Women. Anyway, I was sitting on my bed moaning because my stomach started to hurt and - long story short, I am now drinking a Diet Pepsi from my mother's stash. I usually hate Pepsi and Coke and their diet counterparts, but it's actually one of the few things that make my stomach feel better when I'm sick. I guess we all have our uses (and the caffeine is helping my headache, which is good, I guess).
I came into town last night (as was mentioned previously), thinking I'd only be here overnight so I didn't bring a whole lot to keep me occupied in my down time. Except I got a phone call from a place I applied for a job at and they want to interview me tomorrow (Friday). Which puts me staying here an extra day, which I don't really mind. But then I realize I've finished reading all the books I brought out with me and the ones I was holding off on until I'd finished what I was working on are out at the ranch. I suppose I could call my parents and have them swing by home and grab them for me.
I come to LiveJournal and realize there's a whole slew of stuff I've been wanting to post about but I just haven't had the time to do it and do it thoroughly. So, under the following cuts are things I've been stockpiling for at least a month or so.
I was in one of my class weekends last semester and somehow the topic of the differences between male librarians and female librarians got brought up. I think a few of my classmates have backgrounds in psychology and just have this thing about exploring gender differences in every possible field. Which is fine - it makes for interesting conversation. This particular discussion was about children's librarians and do kids feel better about approaching a woman librarian? (another one of my male classmates is a children's librarian and he's had some funny experiences with people's preconceived ideas about children's librarians). As a discussion of gender differences often does, it turned into a discussion of "Are gender differences natural or are they learned?"
Now, my deeply-held religious beliefs teaches me that we were each individually male and female even before we were born in this world and that we had these characteristics even then (the female tendency to be nurturing and compassionate and the male tendency to be the protector-provider - that kind of thing. That's the general idea and you can discuss nuances and how your father's-brother's-cousin's-former-roommate doesn't fit this description, but just go with me here). Plus, whatever personality you've developed in this life is just an extension of the personality you had before this life. None of us remember that life because God's plan requires that we walk by faith, without remembering the time we spent with Him before we were born (that was more than I wanted to get into, but I think it's key to understanding my point).
So, one of my other classmates is a woman who's been a working mother ever since she's been a mom and has gone to Iraq and Kuwait as something-or-other for the military. She has a couple of older boys, but she also has a 6-7 year old daughter. This daughter loves to play with baby dolls and play house and she has told her mother that it is her life's dream to get married at 18 and be a stay-at-home mom ('twas at this moment that the ardent feminists in the room went into involuntary facial spasms - Lord bless them. I'm not making that up, either. I was silently enjoying the show). Mom has no idea how this child got this idea because Mom has never been that kind of person. She hasn't necessarily preached against it (and heaven knows this little girl likely didn't get it from TV), but if gender is a learned behavior, wouldn't this child's great ambition in life be to be a career woman?
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a woman working (shoot, I'm getting my Master's degree and trying to get a full-time job in a library) and I'm not really a fan of a girl get married straight out of high school either. But I think it's interesting that a little girl whose mom has gone to work all her life wants to be a mother and housewife. I think God sends kids to families so they can learn from each other and remember the purpose that we were all sent here to perform. That was more religious than I intended it to be, but I think you get my point.
On a completely unrelated note, I finally got to see "The Princess and the Frog." I had heard it wasn't that good, but I have to differ on that point (I find myself doing that a lot lately). It was actually a really sweet little fairy tale - and the little blonde girl didn't turn out to be a total snot in the end (for which I was grateful to the Disney Purveyors of PC-ness - for once in modern Disney movies. As a natural blonde, I appreciate being thrown a bone). Charlotte was pretty self-centered (okay, a spoiled brat), but she still considered Tiana a friend and once she got the whole story, Charlotte was willing to help her out. I can't remember if Charlotte found her prince in the end, I'll have to watch it again, but I hope she did because she deserves something good.
I liked that both Naveen and Tiana were able to learn something from each other - that Tiana wasn't this Mary-Sue of workaholics and that everything magically turned out great simply because she'd been working her butt off. I appreciate the message of working hard to make your dreams come true and not just wishing for it to be true. But there's also an element of not becoming so focused on your goals that you miss out on other opportunities that would be just as valuable (the Mama Ody sequence was a key in that). And then there's the value of hoping and dreaming (ie, faith) that makes all your hard work worthwhile. 'Cause there are people that work and work and work, but they never get where they want to be. But as long as they hope and remember why they're working so hard, things do turn out okay eventually.
The part where Tiana tells Louie that they're just going to remain frogs, there was an element of that being okay. If the movie had ended there with Tiana and Naveen setting up a little home in the swamp as an adorable little frog couple, that would have been acceptable to the audience. But in true Disney fashion, there's a loophole, Tiana becomes a princess and they turn back into humans. Which is great because Tiana got her restaurant and Louie got to play the trumpet and Naveen is just damn cute about the whole thing. Anyway, I think "The Princess and the Frog" is in the same camp as "Beauty and the Beast," where the characters have some more depth to them and I love it.
(In a vein that really doesn't have anything to do with anything else - did anyone else think the Shadow Man look kinda like Obama? Not really, sayin' anything - if he looked like Dennis Rodman, I'd point that out too.)
I mentioned I bought "Iron Man" on DVD for my birthday. I'm not going to get into a very detailed review of that because it's probably been done over and over (that's what happens when you go on a mission - you miss a lot of pop culture stuff that you need to be caught up on. But I admit - it's a lot of fun). I really liked it, though. I love superhero stories and I think it's refreshing to have the hero admit to his "secret identity" (maybe having everyone know who you are isn't such a big deal - then again, it causes problems for other heroes). I've never really seen anything with Robert Downey Jr. *ducks flying tomatoes from the flist,* and I don't know what other kinds of characters he's played, but he plays a narcissistic jerk very well. But he's not that big of a jerk, really. All it took was three months in captivity and a sweet little gift from Pepper for him to realize it. I'm looking forward to seeing "Iron Man 2" (I know I said I was going to see it last night, but my sister had a karate demonstration last night and the theater in town only shows big movies once a night on weekdays. But tonight is the last night it's showing here, so I'm going come hell or high water).
Last night before bed, I finished Shannon Hale's "The Goose Girl." I read "Princess Academy" before my mission and I thought it was cute, so I figured I like this one too. It took me a while to figure out where it was supposed to be going (since I'd only read the summary on the back and it didn't give me much information). I sort of identify with Ani - the odd one who's supposed to be this great and wonderful thing, but all she wants to do is talk to the swans (well, I've never tried talking to swans, but I've felt like I've the weird one, even within my own family. I guess everyone feels that way sometimes. But I wear the label of "The Weird One" with distinction).
Even before Selia betrayed Ani, I wanted to slap the little brat. You could just tell that she was plotting something and there were some points that I thought Ani would just tell Selia to go be the princess herself because Ani was tired of it (and wasn't a big fan of Ani's mother, either). The people-speaking types just need to be knocked around a little bit, but I guess that's just me seeing the situation from Ani's point of view - shoot, I'd feel a little put-out if I had a power that was looked down upon when a similar gift was put up on a pedestal. I'd be all "Hey, I have a gift too you jerks!"
I know this story's based on a Grimm fairy tale, but the line in Geric's letter: "I can't love you as a man loves a woman" tipped me off immediately that he was really the prince (I've seen "Roman Holiday" too, you know. Oh, and "Aladdin" - are there any other stories where royalty sneaks off to be among the peasantry? "The Prince and th Pauper" is one too). And I was really pissed off that the horse head really turned out to be Falada because I thought that they might throw a curveball and have him show up and the horse-killers made a mistake. But yay for Talone being alive!! Anyway, Shannon Hale, "The Goose Girl" - good stuff.
Holy crap - that was a lot of stuff to talk about and I feel like I was all over the map. Which, I kinda was. Hopefully I've got all this out of my system now...
I came into town last night (as was mentioned previously), thinking I'd only be here overnight so I didn't bring a whole lot to keep me occupied in my down time. Except I got a phone call from a place I applied for a job at and they want to interview me tomorrow (Friday). Which puts me staying here an extra day, which I don't really mind. But then I realize I've finished reading all the books I brought out with me and the ones I was holding off on until I'd finished what I was working on are out at the ranch. I suppose I could call my parents and have them swing by home and grab them for me.
I come to LiveJournal and realize there's a whole slew of stuff I've been wanting to post about but I just haven't had the time to do it and do it thoroughly. So, under the following cuts are things I've been stockpiling for at least a month or so.
I was in one of my class weekends last semester and somehow the topic of the differences between male librarians and female librarians got brought up. I think a few of my classmates have backgrounds in psychology and just have this thing about exploring gender differences in every possible field. Which is fine - it makes for interesting conversation. This particular discussion was about children's librarians and do kids feel better about approaching a woman librarian? (another one of my male classmates is a children's librarian and he's had some funny experiences with people's preconceived ideas about children's librarians). As a discussion of gender differences often does, it turned into a discussion of "Are gender differences natural or are they learned?"
Now, my deeply-held religious beliefs teaches me that we were each individually male and female even before we were born in this world and that we had these characteristics even then (the female tendency to be nurturing and compassionate and the male tendency to be the protector-provider - that kind of thing. That's the general idea and you can discuss nuances and how your father's-brother's-cousin's-former-roommate doesn't fit this description, but just go with me here). Plus, whatever personality you've developed in this life is just an extension of the personality you had before this life. None of us remember that life because God's plan requires that we walk by faith, without remembering the time we spent with Him before we were born (that was more than I wanted to get into, but I think it's key to understanding my point).
So, one of my other classmates is a woman who's been a working mother ever since she's been a mom and has gone to Iraq and Kuwait as something-or-other for the military. She has a couple of older boys, but she also has a 6-7 year old daughter. This daughter loves to play with baby dolls and play house and she has told her mother that it is her life's dream to get married at 18 and be a stay-at-home mom ('twas at this moment that the ardent feminists in the room went into involuntary facial spasms - Lord bless them. I'm not making that up, either. I was silently enjoying the show). Mom has no idea how this child got this idea because Mom has never been that kind of person. She hasn't necessarily preached against it (and heaven knows this little girl likely didn't get it from TV), but if gender is a learned behavior, wouldn't this child's great ambition in life be to be a career woman?
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a woman working (shoot, I'm getting my Master's degree and trying to get a full-time job in a library) and I'm not really a fan of a girl get married straight out of high school either. But I think it's interesting that a little girl whose mom has gone to work all her life wants to be a mother and housewife. I think God sends kids to families so they can learn from each other and remember the purpose that we were all sent here to perform. That was more religious than I intended it to be, but I think you get my point.
On a completely unrelated note, I finally got to see "The Princess and the Frog." I had heard it wasn't that good, but I have to differ on that point (I find myself doing that a lot lately). It was actually a really sweet little fairy tale - and the little blonde girl didn't turn out to be a total snot in the end (for which I was grateful to the Disney Purveyors of PC-ness - for once in modern Disney movies. As a natural blonde, I appreciate being thrown a bone). Charlotte was pretty self-centered (okay, a spoiled brat), but she still considered Tiana a friend and once she got the whole story, Charlotte was willing to help her out. I can't remember if Charlotte found her prince in the end, I'll have to watch it again, but I hope she did because she deserves something good.
I liked that both Naveen and Tiana were able to learn something from each other - that Tiana wasn't this Mary-Sue of workaholics and that everything magically turned out great simply because she'd been working her butt off. I appreciate the message of working hard to make your dreams come true and not just wishing for it to be true. But there's also an element of not becoming so focused on your goals that you miss out on other opportunities that would be just as valuable (the Mama Ody sequence was a key in that). And then there's the value of hoping and dreaming (ie, faith) that makes all your hard work worthwhile. 'Cause there are people that work and work and work, but they never get where they want to be. But as long as they hope and remember why they're working so hard, things do turn out okay eventually.
The part where Tiana tells Louie that they're just going to remain frogs, there was an element of that being okay. If the movie had ended there with Tiana and Naveen setting up a little home in the swamp as an adorable little frog couple, that would have been acceptable to the audience. But in true Disney fashion, there's a loophole, Tiana becomes a princess and they turn back into humans. Which is great because Tiana got her restaurant and Louie got to play the trumpet and Naveen is just damn cute about the whole thing. Anyway, I think "The Princess and the Frog" is in the same camp as "Beauty and the Beast," where the characters have some more depth to them and I love it.
(In a vein that really doesn't have anything to do with anything else - did anyone else think the Shadow Man look kinda like Obama? Not really, sayin' anything - if he looked like Dennis Rodman, I'd point that out too.)
I mentioned I bought "Iron Man" on DVD for my birthday. I'm not going to get into a very detailed review of that because it's probably been done over and over (that's what happens when you go on a mission - you miss a lot of pop culture stuff that you need to be caught up on. But I admit - it's a lot of fun). I really liked it, though. I love superhero stories and I think it's refreshing to have the hero admit to his "secret identity" (maybe having everyone know who you are isn't such a big deal - then again, it causes problems for other heroes). I've never really seen anything with Robert Downey Jr. *ducks flying tomatoes from the flist,* and I don't know what other kinds of characters he's played, but he plays a narcissistic jerk very well. But he's not that big of a jerk, really. All it took was three months in captivity and a sweet little gift from Pepper for him to realize it. I'm looking forward to seeing "Iron Man 2" (I know I said I was going to see it last night, but my sister had a karate demonstration last night and the theater in town only shows big movies once a night on weekdays. But tonight is the last night it's showing here, so I'm going come hell or high water).
Last night before bed, I finished Shannon Hale's "The Goose Girl." I read "Princess Academy" before my mission and I thought it was cute, so I figured I like this one too. It took me a while to figure out where it was supposed to be going (since I'd only read the summary on the back and it didn't give me much information). I sort of identify with Ani - the odd one who's supposed to be this great and wonderful thing, but all she wants to do is talk to the swans (well, I've never tried talking to swans, but I've felt like I've the weird one, even within my own family. I guess everyone feels that way sometimes. But I wear the label of "The Weird One" with distinction).
Even before Selia betrayed Ani, I wanted to slap the little brat. You could just tell that she was plotting something and there were some points that I thought Ani would just tell Selia to go be the princess herself because Ani was tired of it (and wasn't a big fan of Ani's mother, either). The people-speaking types just need to be knocked around a little bit, but I guess that's just me seeing the situation from Ani's point of view - shoot, I'd feel a little put-out if I had a power that was looked down upon when a similar gift was put up on a pedestal. I'd be all "Hey, I have a gift too you jerks!"
I know this story's based on a Grimm fairy tale, but the line in Geric's letter: "I can't love you as a man loves a woman" tipped me off immediately that he was really the prince (I've seen "Roman Holiday" too, you know. Oh, and "Aladdin" - are there any other stories where royalty sneaks off to be among the peasantry? "The Prince and th Pauper" is one too). And I was really pissed off that the horse head really turned out to be Falada because I thought that they might throw a curveball and have him show up and the horse-killers made a mistake. But yay for Talone being alive!! Anyway, Shannon Hale, "The Goose Girl" - good stuff.
Holy crap - that was a lot of stuff to talk about and I feel like I was all over the map. Which, I kinda was. Hopefully I've got all this out of my system now...
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And congrats to your goddaughters' family! I'm sure they're all excited! For a while in my family, it was just me and my sister until my brother was born and I was sooo happy that I was finally going to get my "big" brother (I'm the oldest, but I've always wanted an older brother - but he's taller than me now, so I guess it works ^_^).
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Amen sista ^_^.
And I absolutely LOVE The Princess and the Frog. I actually got it on Blu-Ray before I even had a Blu-Ray player. But I just got one this weekend with some cool speakers and that was the first thing I watched ^_^. I love how they both learn from each other and she doesn't need to give up her dream, she just adds him to it. Very sweet. And sometimes there is a big difference between what you want and what you need. And everything you said.
BTW, at the end of the movie Charlotte dances with this kid who is 7 years old and she says "Well, I've waited this long." She can wait a little longer. It's too cute! I think if she ended up with a prince . . . that would just 40-ize (when so many movies had to have every girl end up with some guy) the movie and it wouldn't really fit with the rest of it. They ended it just right in my opinion.