My Sunday Afternoon

So, I had all these plans for today.  I wanted to do some laundry, wash some dishes, clean up the house a little, read more of "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins, and perhaps do a little writing on the scifi novel that I started recently.  Instead, my son asked me to make Radiator Springs from the Disney Pixar Cars movies.  I had attempted this once before and it was destroyed quickly, so I was relectant to try...BUT...he kept pestering me, so I gave in and here are the results:

RADIATOR SPRINGS

FILLMORE'S ORGANIC FUEL, SARGE'S SURPLUS HUT,

& ORNAMENTAL VALLEY MECHANICAL CLINIC

FLO'S V8 CAFE & RAMONE'S BODY ART

COURTHOUSE/FIRE DEPT & LUIGI'S CASA DE LA TIRES

LIZZIE'S CURIO SHOP, THE COZY CONE MOTEL,

& TOW MATER'S

This was far more effort than I really wanted to exert on an unnecessary project today, but it turned out pretty good and Jakob loves it.  Fun to find uses for the numerous sheets of cardboard that I still have from my job back in Illinois (which I left 8 years ago).  Ka Chow!!!



Attention Seeking

I decided to take a small break from writing posts just about writing and address something on my mind today.  As a father of two young children, I am all too familiar with the desire of children to seek attention by all means necessary.  My 4 year old and 2 year old have tried many things, both good and bad, to summon the attention of myself or my wife.  In my conversations with other parents and interactions with other children, I know that this behavior is not at all uncommon.  But as children grow, they begin to realize which behaviors get them "good attention" and which get them "bad attention."  And as they learn this, they begin to stop most of the behaviors that get them "bad attention."

As I watched the Grammys last night, I began to realize that one the biggest problems we are facing as a society is that we have a generation of kids reaching adulthood now who have never navigated past the attention seeking stage.  They never learned that "bad attention" is exactly that...bad.  And that view is supported by the superstars that this generations clings to....the Chris Browns, Lady Gagas, Katy Perrys, and Nikki Minajs.  They are known more for their outrageous, lewd, or violent behavior than for the talents they possess.  That is not to say that they don't possess a great amount of talent.  These young musicians have never learned that it is better to have good attention and be praised for the things inside them that are beautiful, noble, and excellent than it is to receive the kind of attention that comes from performances like the one Nikki Minaj gave last night at the Grammys.

We wonder where our society has gone wrong and we look to politicians to fix it.  We see the problems in our children and we blame the schools for not doing a better job.  The reality is that the problems of our attention seeking society start at home.  They start with me and you.  So, it doesn't really matter which candidate ends up in the office of President or what promises they make us.  Change must happen on the ground, in the trenches, at home.  We are the change makers.  We are the catalysts for worldwide reform.  And that change begins with us all navigating the attention seeking stage for ourselves and then helping others to do the same.

Really Classic Movies....

I'm not sure what inspired me to write about this topic.  Perhaps it was a Back to the Future reference that my wife just made.  Or maybe it was a conversation I had on Facebook reminiscing about college.  It could have been how my son and I made our own movie that was a toy recreation of an episode of one ofmy son's favorite cartoons.  Or maybe it was simply the fact that I have nothing to write about of value, so I had to just pick a random topic.  I'll let you choose. :)  At any rate, here are my top 5 classic movies.  These are movies that are classic in my mind, though not necessarily in the minds of others.  I will attempt to share the reasons that I have come to view these movies as important and memorable.  So here goes nothing!

1. The Princess Bride -- Great movie, great acting, and very funny.
     What makes it classic?  An abundance of quotable lines and great memories of watching it with friends while quoting most every line before the actors said them.
     Best quote: "Anybody want a peanut?"

2. Monty Python and the HolyGrail -- Ridiculously wonderul
     What makes it classic?  More quotable lines and the memory of many friends watching the movie for the first time (I distinctlyremember one person saying, when the movie was all done, "That's the end?"...CLASSIC!)
      Best quote: "It's only a model."

3. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure -- High school "dude" humor
      What makes it classic? Again, very quotable.  Also, it is about the only movie where Keanu Reeves' acting is halfway decent.  Plus, who wouldn't want to go back in time and collect people from history for a report?
       Best quote: "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."

4. Back to the Future 3 -- Yes, I did choose the third one!  It is by far the funniest!
       What makes it classic? Great quotes.  Touches on pieces of movies 1 and 2.  The old West is just fun, plus the old guy gets the lady!
       Best quote: "Run for fun?!?  What the hell kinda fun is that?"

5. Shadowlands -- I struggled with what to put at #5 because there are so many great movies that belong on this list, but I wanted a non-comedy to round this out.  And Shadowlands is an amazing movie.
       What makes it classic? Great story about C.S. Lewis.  Phenomenal acting.  Good lines.
       Best quote: "He comes in, he sleeps, he leaves.  The plot thickens."

What are your classic movies?  Why?

The Princess and the Engine

I decided to create a writing challenge for myself, so I thought I would write a short children's story in the style of Theodore Geisel. Here it goes!

The Princess and the Engine
by Jeff Fiet

In the middle of nowhere, a quaint, little town
Stood nestled amidst the Forest of Frown.
In the midst of the forest was Castle Morose
Where lived a fair princess whose name no one knows.
She'd lived in the castle her full twenty years
And each of those days were chock full of tears.
"Why's the princess so sad?" you might ask in your head.
That's simple. There is merely one thing causing dread.
She can't leave the Forest to go into town.
Her castle sits high and she's scared to walk down.
So, she sits all alone and she cries and she moans
And she orders more junk than one person should own.
Her castle is full to the brim with new things...
None of it used, but all of it brings
A second of joy, though those seconds grow shorter
With each new day of her life as a hoarder.
Today is another with nothing to do
But order more junk to lighten the blue.
But just as she goes for the phone with her hand
She's stopped by a sound that resounds through the land.
It's the sound of a whistle and the sound's getting near
She runs to the window and opens to peer
Down the hill toward the forest where something she spies
Sending numerous puffs of white steam to the sky.
She hears a chug-chug and a quiet peep-peep
And out chugs an engine, right out of the trees.
It chugs and it chuffs right up to the door
And peeps as it waits for it's passenger to board.
The princess looks out and decides right away
To forget all her stuff. It's not used anyway.
And she boards the small train, climbing right up and in
And the engine peep-peeps and starts moving again
And the engine takes off straight toward the town.
It turns toward the hill and it scuttles right down.
It chugs with the princess to the middle of Promise.
And then something happened she couldn't have guessed.
She smiled...and that smile brought a joy to her heart
More than any of the stuff that she'd bought off the cart.
More than vases or jewelry or buttons or cans
Or miniature garden gnomes with really bad tans.
It brought her more joy than ever she'd felt.
So, she got off the train and right there she knelt
And cried, but these tears were the tears of sheer joy
For the princess had found what she truly enjoyed.
She was free from the bonds of her prison of stuff.
And now she needed nothing. Just life was enough.


So... What do you think? Needs some illustrations perhaps!  :)