When I first found out Hollywood was going to make a movie out of this classic Children's book, I can't say I was the least bit excited. But after seeing the trailer I stand corrected. At least from the little bit you can see in the trailer, this movie seems just as magical and moody as the book. But I'm still a little wary.
There's something kind of sad about Hollywood stealing all of the mystery and imagination a child has to create his or her own take on the story. I remember my mom reading me that book countless times. The tones and intonations of her voice so original to anyone else's experience. The way I got caught up in the details of Maurice's illustrations. Kind of makes me a little sad in a way.
I just had a realization today. All those movies that depicted the people talking over TV screens and being able to see each other, yeah, that's reality! With the advent of Skype and Google Talk with video, I can have a conversation with my dad in STL while I sit on my couch and we can essentially be face to face. Now, the bandwidth issue is still there, so that needs to be addressed, but the fact is that I can actually do the Jetsons thing!
Damn, technology is cool.
Damn, technology is cool.
Finally got some shots of the green sands beach from the southern-most tip of the big island of Hawaii. The sand is actually shards of peridot that comes from the volcanic activity nearby, you can see the black specs of pumice mixed in to make the sand appear darker. From anything more than a few feet away it just looks like moss or something.
So, I have been thinking the last few days about our trip to Hawaii and how much everyone loved it, and I have been wondering if everyone loved it so much because it was Hawaii, or because of the lifestyle we lived.
You see, for a full week, there were no computers, no TVs, just people, books, the beach, pool, hot tub, and food. We got up when we wanted, hung around and had breakfast when we were ready, then just did whatever it was that felt relaxing at the time. Most of the time we would all be sitting around the table on the patio reading books or magazines, the only noise the birds chirping. We'd have a nice, mellow breakfast with mimosas and then read for an hour or so, until someone suggested actually doing something.
If someone was hungry, that person would grab something to eat, which would start a chain reaction of everyone going in and making something for lunch. Then we would get out of the house and check out some new part of the island. Dinner was usually a group effort for cooking and cleaning and then we would hang out and play card games, dice games, have drinks, sit in the hot tub, or just generally screw around. We would all slowly drift off to bed when we would get tired and then start the whole thing over again the next day.
Now, I don't intend to say in any way that Hawaii is not an amazing place, but I think that the lifestyle that we lived for that week was about as close to perfection as is possible. It was the first time in my life that I have ever completely unplugged and lived life in the moment every day. When we are home there are so many things that get in the way of life, things like work, paying bills, cleaning the house, feeding the cats, going to the gym, etc., by the time you actually get a moment to sit down you are so damn tired that you don't even want to talk to anyone. You spend each meal rushing so that you can get to the next thing that you have to get done, and you never get a chance to actually just be.
"While Eeyore frets...
...and Piglet hesitates
...and Rabbit calculates
...and Owl pontificates
Pooh...just is."
I wanna be Pooh.
You see, for a full week, there were no computers, no TVs, just people, books, the beach, pool, hot tub, and food. We got up when we wanted, hung around and had breakfast when we were ready, then just did whatever it was that felt relaxing at the time. Most of the time we would all be sitting around the table on the patio reading books or magazines, the only noise the birds chirping. We'd have a nice, mellow breakfast with mimosas and then read for an hour or so, until someone suggested actually doing something.
If someone was hungry, that person would grab something to eat, which would start a chain reaction of everyone going in and making something for lunch. Then we would get out of the house and check out some new part of the island. Dinner was usually a group effort for cooking and cleaning and then we would hang out and play card games, dice games, have drinks, sit in the hot tub, or just generally screw around. We would all slowly drift off to bed when we would get tired and then start the whole thing over again the next day.
Now, I don't intend to say in any way that Hawaii is not an amazing place, but I think that the lifestyle that we lived for that week was about as close to perfection as is possible. It was the first time in my life that I have ever completely unplugged and lived life in the moment every day. When we are home there are so many things that get in the way of life, things like work, paying bills, cleaning the house, feeding the cats, going to the gym, etc., by the time you actually get a moment to sit down you are so damn tired that you don't even want to talk to anyone. You spend each meal rushing so that you can get to the next thing that you have to get done, and you never get a chance to actually just be.
"While Eeyore frets...
...and Piglet hesitates
...and Rabbit calculates
...and Owl pontificates
Pooh...just is."
I wanna be Pooh.