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A Cheating Gene

So I was listening to Radio IQ yesterday (it makes me feel smart), and they were discussing a study recently completed by a Swedish group and published by the National Academy of Sciences. Apparently, there is a gene variant in men which is directly linked to marital discord / monogamy issues. And if men have a double dose of this gene variant, the chance of their marital issues increases. 

An article written by the Washington Post suggests that this study may lead to the possibility that women could have their fiancees genetically tested in order to determine their marriageability. I thought about that and whether (in the future) I had tested Johnathan and found he possesses this gene variant. I think I still would have married him, but only because I don't believe unfaithfulness to be the worst thing that can happen in a marriage. I think unfaithfulness is usually a symptom of something else. It may sound weird, but it's just my opinion. And I know that a lot of women don't agree with me, which is probably why future genetic testing for this gene might affect some women's marriage decisions.

The things we can do in the future are crazy, no kidding? Sometimes, I really wonder why we keep reaching higher and farther. It feels somehow like we're trying to build the Tower of Babel, and some sort of impending doom is approaching because of our attempts to reach heaven. Only in our postmodern society it's an evolutionary utopia we're striving for. 

The Nasal Aspirator is my Best Friend

So Aubri got her first cold yesterday. Low fever. Congestion. Runny Nose. All the things that make the poor baby feel yucky. But I do want to publicly extend thanks and gratitude to whoever came up with the blue squeezy bulb. Aubri doesn't mind it at all, and even though it can sometimes take some time to get all of the gunky stuff out of her, it works! Blessed relief! 

I had to stay home from practice today because the poor baby has a runny nose and Daddy's not interested in passing it on to his team. And I'm not interested in walking around practice with a sad baby strapped to my chest. 

Oh, I also want to publicly thank the creator of the front carrier. Admittedly, I feel like I'm pregnant again when I'm wearing it, but Aubri loves it, and it allows me to do my jobs. 

A Little "Me" Time

Question: Why do we always have to capitalize the important words in titles? I mean, wouldn't it be just as effective if we left the "A", "L", "M", and "T" lowercase? I tried it out when I wrote the title, but I had to go back and fix it because it just didn't look right.

Question: Why do cats bring gifts consisting of still-moving bugs. Seriously? And Lux acts all offended when I throw it out. Seriously. He stalks out of the room.

Question: Why do headaches always arrive when you're trying to relax? That's just inopportune. 

Question: Why is it hard to fall asleep in the middle of the night? I have never had any difficulty sleeping-- I never needed any sleep props like Johnathan does. I had no trouble turning off the thought machine and zoozing (yes, I made up that word-- it felt apt.) But now that I have to wake up to feed Aubri, I have the most difficult time falling back asleep. And then it's time to get up again!

 

Question: Grading papers is overrated. Okay, that's not a question, that's a statement. That's what we English teachers refer to as a declarative sentence. Question: why do we feel the need to label things like declarative sentences? When do we ever use these labels in real life? I was thinking this as I tried my damnedest to explain the difference between a linking verb and an active verb to my class. The definition in the book was no help. It said, "Linking verbs link the subject to the rest of the sentence." Seriously? You mean, linking verbs link stuff? 

Baby Fever . . .

So I get to spend a lot of time with Aubri. A LOT. I even get to strap her to me when I'm working at Randolph. And she's beginning to prefer me to others, which I like and don't like at the same time. "Why don't I like it?" you may want me to ask myself. Just imagine being the only person who can put your baby to bed. Every night for the next . . . I don't even know. I'm not saying it's gotten that far-- but I'm definitely worried it's getting there. And lately I've been finding myself needing to remind myself that I really am thankful to get to stay with her so much, thankful that Johnathan works so hard we can hang out like we do. And at the very same time I am super glad when I get to drop her off at Tricia's so I can teach my class, or when Johnathan offers to take her while I grade papers (always a Starbucks run in there.) It's just nice to get a moment to myself sometimes. Because this kid is super awesome, but she's also still a baby, which I find myself needing to remind myself of lately. Isn't that weird? I have to actually make myself remember that she's still a baby! 

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2-- the Re-write (cont.)

Note: Please read previous post if you have not already. 

So now that you have an idea of the three different story lines that screenwriters could have drawn from, let's see (in a little more detail) what they did use:

Lena: Finds out that Kostos got a girl pregnant and married her; she is (supposedly) devastated but that doesn't come across at all. Instead, she meets Leo at film school, starts casually dating/posing for him, rejects Kostos, and then is friendly (but not too friendly) to him at the end of the movie when she sees him in Greece.

Tibby: Pregnancy scare, holes up in her room, breaks up with Brian, wants Brian back, gets Brian back.

Bridget: No mention of Eric, goes to Turkey, gets "close" to the female archeology professor, realizes she wants a family but instead of returning home, she goes to visit her maternal grandmother to learn about her mom. 

Carmen: is upset because all her friends have abandoned her this summer, her mom is pregnant, and they're moving, so she goes to theater camp with new friend Julia, who is jealous when Carmen gets the starring role and tries to date the guy that Carmen likes. Carmen almost sucks because of this, but then realizes Julia is a bad friend, doesn't suck, and is happy when she goes to Greece with the other three. 

What they should have used for the movie, and the reasons why. 

Lena, in the movie, is too far removed from the way she was in the first movie (remember, she's had two summers to get used to being beautiful and being without Kostos). Her storylines have been mostly passive, because she was dealing with inward stuff and growing inwardly. The storyline they should have used was from summer 3-- the one where she was drawing her family and learning about them, but still learning how to stand up for herself, too (by defying her father and still going to art school even though he told her she could not). The reason they should have chosen this is because it reflects the continued change of Lena becoming comfortable with herself and who she is, but also because it shows her learning about those around her. It also allows her to retain her characteristics from the earlier movie. Remember, human nature never fully cures itself, so we always go back to our flaws. 

Tibby's role in the movie, because of the pregnancy scare was very limited to a pre-occupation with babies and a stubbornness in breaking up with Brian. I felt like this didn't capitalize on her well-established character from the first movie, and think they  should have used the story-line from summer 2-- the one where she goes to film camp and tries to impress these friends by shrugging off Brian and making fun of her mom, but realizes how stupid she is in the end and turns it into Bailey's documentary. This storyline would have great continuity with the first movie, and also show how the things that occur in our past really do still affect us later on. 

Bridget could have gone with any of her storylines, because they were all good, and all showed great insight into Bridget's character and human nature (in that we all return to our flaws). I think the Bridget/Grandmother story line is my favorite, but not the way they did it in the movie-- with Bridget still beautiful and very much the same. They couldn't have done the full story line because Bridget couldn't have quit soccer (and can you really make Blake Lively fatter?) Since they couldn't do that, the best one they could have done was summer 4-- but the complete one. They should have showed she was dating Eric, and she should have gone the whole way, with kissing the professor, to realizing how stupid she was, to realizing she missed Eric, to realizing she wanted to draw her father and brother out and going home and doing that. This story-line is effective in demonstrating Bridget's character flaws, but also shows her simultaneous fear and need for family and love. 

Carmen's story was fine the way it was. 

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2-- the Re-write

My sister Katie and I read the four "Sisterhood/Pants" books by Ann Brashares (how do you pronounce this last name, btw?) while she was here for a few weeks. Then we went to see the second movie the day after it came out. The movie-- thank heavens-- does not pick up on the second summer like it could have; instead it picks up two summers later, after the girls' first year of college. With this timeframe in mind, the screenwriters had almost three different story-lines to choose from for each character (you know-- 2nd film, but 4th book).  The story lines are as follows (bolded elements are what the movie included)

Summer 2: 

Lena: has broken up with Kostos and has a boring job in a clothing store, but Kostos comes to America and she approaches him in the middle of the night and falls madly in love with him (again). Then Kostos must return to Greece for some inexplicable reason and Lena suspects . . . something . . .and then her Bapi in Greece dies and the whole family goes to Greece for the funeral and she finds out Kostos is married to a girl who claims he got her pregnant.  

Tibby: goes to film camp and meets two "cool" New York rebel film students and tries to impress them. Has to make a documentary and makes one that makes fun of her mom. Brian hanging out with her at film camp and says she shouldn't show it, but she does and her mom cries and then her new friends make fun of Brian and she doesn't defend him and then she feels bad and makes a documentary about Bailey that everyone approves of and that shows that she is her own, nice person. 

Bridget: Has quit soccer and gotten fatter and died her hair brown, but finds letters hidden by her father and sent to her from her  maternal grandmother and she decided she's going to visit her in Alabama. She arrives in the small town and rents a room in a lodging house and asks to clean out her grandmother's attic. She introduces herself as Greta or Gilda or something stupid like that. Slowly has revelations about her mother and memories of her grandmother resurface and she starts to play soccer again and take off the extra weight and lets her hair go back to its original color and finishes cleaning out the attic and then she and her grandmother have a great relationship.

Carmen: 's mom is dating a guy named David, and Carmen doesn't like it. Eventually she gives her permission for them to date. 

Summer 3:

Lena: Is taking an art class (drawing naked people) and her dad walks in and says she can't go there, but she goes back and then he says he won't pay for art school and then Lena decides to paint her family as her application for a scholarship to her art school. Lena finds art is freeing and allows her to see her family better.

Tibby: and Brian are in love and go out on a date and Tibby opens the window in her room to allow in "fresh air" and her sister Katherine falls out of it and hurts her head and Tibby feels guilty and helps Carmen's mom have a baby and realizes love is good and so she and Brian are together again by the end. 

Bridget: Is a camp counselor at a soccer camp and so is Eric. They are partnered together and he has a girlfriend so she wants him to know he can trust her (and she can trust herself) not to make a move on him. She gets really sick and he takes care of her and then disappears for a weekend and Bridget gets her feelings hurt. When Eric returns he reveals he has broken up with his girlfriend and he and Bridget become an item (but do not have sex). 

Carmen: 's mom is having a baby and Carmen doesn't like it. When her mom goes into labor, has to find David so there is some sort of acceptance of the baby once they return. 

Summer 4:

Lena: sees a guy in her art summer class that looks like Kostos-- his name is Leo, and they start hanging out. They model nude for each other's paintings, and have sex, but it's casual. Kostos returns and tells Lena that his ex-wife lied about being pregnant and that he wants to be with her. Lena rejects him. Lena's sister takes the traveling pants to Greece and loses them so all four go to Greece to find them. Lena sees Kostos there and he is returning to his life's path of the London School of Economics, and they part friendly.

Tibby: gives up her virginity to Brian and has a pregnancy scare and dumps Brian when she finds out she isn't pregnant and then gets back with Brian when she realizes she's jealous of Brian dating Lena's sister.

Bridget: feels left out when Eric goes back to soccer camp so she signs up for an archeology expedition in Turkey. Gets super intense with and kisses the archeology professor. They talk about taking it further, but the next day his family shows up and Bridget feels (properly) ashamed. She returns home and draws her father and brother out of their shells to try to help them back into being a family. Eric comes for a visit and tells her he missed her and is glad they're together.  

Carmen: got super insecure at college and made a friend who is a theater star and they go to theater camp and Carmen gets the starring role and starts feeling better about herself and realizes Julia is a bad friend 

and becomes grateful for the sisterhood and stops avoiding them. 

Tune in tomorrow to see what the re-write should look like. . . 

Blog Brainstorm

I always have the best blogging ideas in the worst blogging places: 1.) in the car, and 2.) in bed in the middle of the night. I know my (very few) readers would be surprised at how political or religious or academic my blog would be if I actually got these brainstorms at a moment when I could use them. 

Unfortunately, we've been reduced to sharing occasional, ridiculously trivial tidbits of information related to me. You have my apologies, readers! And don't ask why I can't just write my brainstorms when I have the chance, because this question makes me extremely sad. Or maybe it's the answer that makes me sad. Either one, really, because it comes down to the fact that all I can remember about said brilliant brainstorm is that I had one and that I congratulated myself on the amazing post it would become. And then I arrive at the "Compose New Post" webpage-- my fingers poised above the keys in anticipation of what keys the nerves in my brain will command them to push-- and I freeze. I freeze and resort to asking Aubri if she'd blog for me (she won't, by the way; says it's too close to plagiarism). 

Let's all share a moment of silence for the genius that got away. =(

Just Hangin'

So things are getting ready to get busy. They really already are-- with Johnathan at his job(s) and volunteer work most of every day, I get to spend mine with Aubri. Yesterday, though, I really needed Johnathan's help with her to get my syllabus and everything ready for my class that begins on Tuesday. I look forward to the opportunity to teach my first college class-- basic Composition for at-risk students. However, I spoke with Mrs. Towles today, and she had some stories about her basic Composition classes which concerned me! Stories where the skinny white kid threatens her and is threatened in turn by all the black guys in the class.  Hmmm. . . what have I gotten myself into? 

I'm watching the Olympics while warding off my cat (he stalks me), and waiting for Johnathan to come home from playing volleyball until 10:30. Michael Phelps just beat out Michael Cavic in the hundred fly, and I am amazed that they can figure Michael Phelps won. They replay the replays in slow motion, and I still don't see it. But as the commenter says, "The touchpad never lies." Although if that's the case, I'm not sure why Serbia filed a protest. . . 

All Alone

So everyone vacated my house this week. I am sad, and I miss my friends and family. I've always loved to have people over, and for that reason never minded having a roommate (who is also gone for good, as she married in July.) Aubri has been upset, too (which she rarely is), but I can tell she misses everyone. (On the upside, she now reserves her smiles for me!) So what did I do my first day on my own? I calmed a fussy baby, let Brandon borrow my car, went with Johnathan to Randolph to work out, came home and (wonder of wonders) took a nap with Aubri, and now I'm paying the bills while listening to Larry King's interview of the Steven Curtis Chapman's. Oh, yeah- I did the dishes and swept the kitchen, too. 

I am preparing for hanging out with my friends before school starts again. These things take time and energy, but it's energy I am looking forward to expending! I can't wait for Aubri to start laughing. I am waiting to see if she qualifies for medicaid (please, God!), and trying to memorize John Donne's sonnet, "Batter My Heart, Three-personed God" because I find myself struggling to recite it in the middle of the night after I've fed and put Aubri back down. 

Exciting stuff! 

Quotable

"That will either drive me nuts or drive me to pee my bed."

-- Stephen Stone, on falling asleep to the sound of waves hitting the beach