Even the Cartoons are Obsessed with Barbie Figures March 31, 2009

I took the kids to Monsters vs. Aliens this weekend in 3D. It was good, but I have two major gripes for SKG over at Dreamworks.

First off, the 3D was VERY cool. The kids loved it and so did I. It was worth the extra money, but I am wondering if we can just bring in our glasses for the slew of new 3D movies coming out this summer and fall. I certainly hope so. I listened to a very interesting discussion on the 3D technology on NPR’s Science Friday podcast a few weeks ago, and it sounds like this technology is coming on full force. I’ve got my glasses, so bring it on.

Gripe #1 with Monsters vs Aliens – When his communication techniques fail with the alien, the “President” eventually pulls out a handgun and tries to kill the alien. I was immediately disgusted with this display of handgun violence…it closely resembled the “thug” move in the movies in which the thug typically pulls his gun out of his jeans. It was not only completely inappropriate for a children’s movie, but it was also completely gratuitous and unnecessary.  I was nothing short of shocked to see this President figure in a child’s movie pulling out a handgun and shooting to kill. SHAME ON YOU DREAMWORKS! SHAME ON YOU! I find it so hard to believe that this made it past so many PARENTS involved in the decision making processes that went into this movie. It did not move the storyline; it was simply violence.

Gripe #2 with Monsters vs Aliens – Reese Witherspoon’s female character Ginormica has the shape of a giant Barbie doll – her waist is about 12 inches wide compared to her 40 inch hips. Her freakishly skinny waist brought to mind that picture of Michael Jackson from the 80s with the super thin waist – you know the one. Unfortunately, I cannot find it anywhere on the net.

The only nice thing I can say is that Ginormica actually has curvy hips which is a model women need more of.

Is there NO MOTHER OF A DAUGHTER at Dreamworks that can advocate for realistic images for our children? Not only do young girls, teenage girls and women need these images, but so do our SONS!  I think Ginormica is even more offensive to me because she is SOOOOO giant – the thinness of her waist is accentuated by her height.

How many more daughters have to suffer from anorexia and bulimia because they are constantly barraged with images that are completely unrealistic and unhealthy? How many? I don’t even have a daughter, and I am pissed off and fed up with this. When I complain about my hips/thighs/stomach, my husband reminds me of my (mis)perception of what is attractive in our society. Even I fall prey to these ridiculous ideals.

I cannot lie that I felt a HUGE amount of relief when I squeezed back into my pre-pregnancy size 5 jeans at the six week post-pregnancy mark. I couldn’t breathe in them, but I got them on which meant that my body would get back into them with me breathing. I would have been upset had it taken me 8 weeks or 10 or 16. Now, with some time away from my pregnancy and post-pardum body, I can truly appreciate what a woman’s body is capable of. Not only can we nourish our babies during and after pregnancy, skin and muscles stretch in remarkable ways. Hell, my abdominal muscles split apart (and completely freaked me out when I noticed) to accomodate the growing baby, but they grew back together just as my fabulous midwife told me they would. Nothing short of amazing.

I know very few women who find their own pregnancy body as amazing and beautiful as I did, which I think is a down right shame. I seriously question if one of the reasons I found it amazing and beautiful was because I was single and had no one to hide it from. This makes me sad if this is, in fact, true.

Even when a friend warned me about seeing my naked body for the first time post-pardum, I cried like a baby when I saw my own naked, flabby body full length in my bathroom mirror. No more tight stomach….just skin having to go somewhere. Even though my breasts were INCREDIBLE, I had to look at the flabby midsection. BUT, just as my friend warned me, the human body is nothing short of amazing and I did see my stomach muscles again.

What is my point? My point is that from the point young girls and boys age 2 and above are watching silly movies designed to entertain them, the imprinting has begun – good, pretty women are unrealistically and unachievably skinny. Oh, and they are mostly white, but that is a post for another day.

Daisies, Brownies, Quilting and Easter Crafts March 27, 2009

A little smattering of what I’ve been up to lately…

I’m anxious for Spring…winter, winter go away!

Although I can’t really complain since I do have a friends in Fargo and Bismark, ND in the midst of blizzard and flood warnings at the same time.

I’ve been putting my KitchenAid mixer to good use. What a GREAT xmas/birthday present from my hubby!

I prefer to use King Arthur Flour when baking. It is consistent and unbleached, and the company is 100% employee owned. I noticed the  The Best Brownies Ever Recipe on the back of the bag tonight when I was refilling my canister and since I’ve made brownies for everyone BUT my family, I thought I would give it a try. As the baker, I feel it is my duty to test the batter. This is a GREAT brownie batter – barely sweet, very chocolatey. The brownies are currently cooling, but look at this beautiful batch.

Last Sunday, Jack and I dyed some eggs, but because we are a little ahead of the Easter schedule, we used my Great Grandma Robinson’s egg blowing technique first. I forgot about this technique completely until I saw it on Martha Stewart. We used a sewing needle to poke the ends of the eggs and used our mouth and our air to blow it out. It was a lot of fun.

We then dyed them beautiful colors. The one thing that consistently was an issue was that the eggs don’t sink when the shells are empty which means that you need to be VERY careful to drain them properly before taking them out of the dye and transferring them to the container for drying.

I’ve joined the quilt-along over at Oh Fransson. I ordered my fabric online, all from the same designer’s line since I am awful and colors. I thought I was ordering all shades of red, but most was orange hues and some were red. I was disappointed, but after some reconfiguring and a hunt through Des Moines for two more suitable fat quarters, I’m back in. These reds are my favorite combinations.

I haven’t made a true quilt before, so I’ve learned a lot. Elizabeth is doing a great job in her instructions. Among the things I have learned is that I really dislike a 16 square quilt square. Those 1/4 seams are a serious pain to iron!

I’ve got one fabric square materials that I really don’t like at all, but I am trusting the process in how it will fit within the larger quilt. I’m hoping to finish the individual squares this weekend so I can begin working on the sashing. The square in the forefront is the combination I don’t like much at all.

I’m on the soccer board now, so I’ve been spending time learning about my new role as Vice President of the U8 division…wish me luck!! Field lines, nets, teams, bent out of shape parents, oh my!

Here’s a picture of a cute little crock my sister-in-law got me when she was working for Le Creuset. It is one of a pair. I broke my coarse salt canister and this little crock seemed just perfect!

The Rumbling Begins… March 10, 2009

I just got this email from Aaron…

Aaron pours himself a bowl of raisin bran.

Jack: “I’m going to warn you about that cereal. It will make you fart a lot in the morning.”

Aaron: “It does huh? Is that what happened to you?”

Jack: (pouring himself a bowl of raisin bran) “yeah”.

Two hours later and the angry sounds of methane trapped in my colon are literally interrupting other conversations at the staff meeting.

Pretzels, Purses and Mushroom Trees March 7, 2009

I made these fabulous homemade baked pretzels last weekend, and they will be making a repeat performance this weekend again. Yes, they were that easy and that good!

I found the recipe over at The Fresh Loaf blog. The recipe is from Alton Brown and thus in metric measurements, but The Fresh Loaf converted it to American conversions. The only change I would make is creating 10 good-sized pretzels from the dough instead of 8 gigantic pretzels. All of us loved these!

I also made my first true quilting project. I made it up so it is pretty simple. I wanted a table runner, but it turned out to be pretty gigantic for a table runner. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now. I purchased a back material for it and will finish it this weekend.

I just love the mushroom trees and the I promise to keep the trees fabric (both purchased at JoAnn’s).

Jack was also busy sewing a little purse for his crush. It turned out great! Again, we made it up as we went along.

The mare and the Governor March 5, 2009

Aaron: My co-worker came in late to work this morning because her mare died.

Jack: What?

Mom: Her horse died.

Jack: That is too bad that her horse died. How did it die?

Mom: I don’t know.

Jack: So, what about the governor dying?

Mom: What??? A horse died.

Jack looking very confused and then I realize the problem.

Mom: A female horse is called a mare, but it is NOT a mayOR.

Jack: Oh, I was wondering what you were talking about.

I think I can teach you March 3, 2009

Jack really gets into singing the chorus to songs on the radio. One of his favorite things is to have me sing the first part of the chorus so he can wrap it up strong.

So, this is the context for this statement from Jack last night after we were singing along to Out of My Head by Fastball.

“I am such a good singer. I bet I could teach someone to sing really well in a week. I bet I could teach you to sing really well in two…no, three weeks.”

I just revel in the fact that he knows that well is an adverb and good is an adjective!