Just a photo or two (depending on how many they'll let me load) of our beautiful birthday boy.
Friday, August 26, 2005
The Birthday Boy
Just a photo or two (depending on how many they'll let me load) of our beautiful birthday boy.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Birthday Thoughts
Atticus is now officially one year old. It only took two visits to the hospital, thirty-six hours of labor, several thousand miles of travel (some of it by plane), three continents and two scrape/bump-leaving falls to get this far.
The party was simple. Local food and a cake. Presents and cards. No traditional white suit or stick. Maybe twenty-five people covering four nationalities. Atticus got banana cake with a taste of the chocolate one when mom left the room. After everyone left, some additional friends stopped by to break a loaf of bread on Atticus’ back to guarantee strong bones (maybe that’s what went wrong with mine). He was down for a nap three and a half hours after the festivities began.
I wonder how different it would have been in the States. It would have been hotter. There would probably only be one language used as people sat in their little groups. The cards would have been Hallmark. The toys would have been from Wal-Mart or Kaybee’s or Toys R Us. Nobody would have been concerned about which water was safe to drink but somebody might be concerned about the potato salad. Mostly it would have been the same except all of you would have been invited. Consider this your invitation for next year.
The party was simple. Local food and a cake. Presents and cards. No traditional white suit or stick. Maybe twenty-five people covering four nationalities. Atticus got banana cake with a taste of the chocolate one when mom left the room. After everyone left, some additional friends stopped by to break a loaf of bread on Atticus’ back to guarantee strong bones (maybe that’s what went wrong with mine). He was down for a nap three and a half hours after the festivities began.
I wonder how different it would have been in the States. It would have been hotter. There would probably only be one language used as people sat in their little groups. The cards would have been Hallmark. The toys would have been from Wal-Mart or Kaybee’s or Toys R Us. Nobody would have been concerned about which water was safe to drink but somebody might be concerned about the potato salad. Mostly it would have been the same except all of you would have been invited. Consider this your invitation for next year.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Not giving away the ending...
Just over a week ago I finished reading Donald Miller’s Searching for God Knows What. Earlier tonight Amanda and I finished reading The Half Blood Prince. I don’t know with which ending I am most disappointed.
One peaks with an analysis of Romeo and Juliet as a deeply profound retelling of Christian reconciliation. (For those of you who haven’t read either Miller’s or Rowling’s books, I won’t say which one. Oh, and climb out from under your rock.) I loved the book and was a bit let down by this “let me prove I was an English major” stretch that, while I could accept the premise, seemed so unlike the rest of the text. Having forced my share of comparisons – Ngugi/Wordsworth, Mau Mau Rebellion/Industrial Revolution, The Tick/The Nixon Presidency – I proudly admit to the plank in my eye but offer my disappointment nonetheless.
The other book was an equally engrossing book that I also loved reading. My disappointment came with the “now you’re forced to by the next book whether you want to or not” ending. What kind of Back to the Future II kind of closure is that? And now I have to wait another six months to, maybe, get some resolution.
Oh, and if you dig Miller’s lifeboat metaphor (which I really did) you might want to try reading Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. Better yet, skip the whole lifeboat thing and take an elevator with Colson Whitehead’s The Intuitionist.
One peaks with an analysis of Romeo and Juliet as a deeply profound retelling of Christian reconciliation. (For those of you who haven’t read either Miller’s or Rowling’s books, I won’t say which one. Oh, and climb out from under your rock.) I loved the book and was a bit let down by this “let me prove I was an English major” stretch that, while I could accept the premise, seemed so unlike the rest of the text. Having forced my share of comparisons – Ngugi/Wordsworth, Mau Mau Rebellion/Industrial Revolution, The Tick/The Nixon Presidency – I proudly admit to the plank in my eye but offer my disappointment nonetheless.
The other book was an equally engrossing book that I also loved reading. My disappointment came with the “now you’re forced to by the next book whether you want to or not” ending. What kind of Back to the Future II kind of closure is that? And now I have to wait another six months to, maybe, get some resolution.
Oh, and if you dig Miller’s lifeboat metaphor (which I really did) you might want to try reading Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. Better yet, skip the whole lifeboat thing and take an elevator with Colson Whitehead’s The Intuitionist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
