I've Gone Batty

Dan and I watched The Dark Knight Saturday evening. I told Dan to get the tickets since he loves superhero movies. Then he told me he thought we were going for me since I liked Batman Begins more than he did; so we were doing each other a favor. It's a long movie, but the writing and the acting merit the length. There are so many good actors in the film, and while the Joker is definitely disturbing, his performance was riveting. This movie is dark, yet there are rays of hope shining in the story, not only by Batman and the district attorneys but also by the unsung hero known as Lt. James Gordon. I was so impressed with Gordon because despite all the corruption, mayhem, murders, and danger, he never gave up in his role to the public and rose to the occasion each time with integrity and bravery. (FYI: This movie is too violent for kids and young teens, and the joker is uber creepy. It bothered me that some parents brought their boys to the theater.) SPOILER ALERT: Don't read on if you want to remain in the dark. I had to hold back tears at the end of the film when Batman sacrificed his image and fame for the sake of Gotham City. It might seem silly to cry in such a film, but what the critics are saying is true -- this movie transcends the typical superhero film. It's more gritty, more realistic, and the hero doesn't get an easy out. He chose to be what the people needed him to be to ensure a measure of hope and peace prevailed. Wow, I'm impressed with the dynamic writing team of the Nolan brothers. Dan said this is the best movie we've seen this year, and I have to agree. If I were Paula Abdul, I would say the "many textures of this film" make it a winner.

Sophia can count!

Nathan likes to choose hide-and-seek for our Family Night activity every Monday. Dan, Nathan, and I take turns counting to 30 and finding the others with Sophia running/dancing at our heels. So today when it was time to count, Sophie piped up and counted from 1 to 10! She did it a couple of times, and we're excited to see that she picked this up on her own at exactly 22 months.

Angie's new church assignment

We're now in the Red Ledges ward (great name, eh?), and I'm the 1st counselor in the Primary. I'm glad to have this opportunity to get to know the children and to teach them. It'll be fun to work in a presidency and get to know the teachers as well. We only have about 15 kids who come each week, but there are nearly 10 children in nursery already. I think our ward will grow as more homes/townhomes are completed in our area. I'm doing my first Sharing Time lesson this Sunday. Wish me luck!

Quotes of the week:

"I love you, Mommy!" -- Nathan has started to say this a lot lately.
"That's just man knowledge." -- Dan, responding to my question about how he already knew who Harvey Dent was in The Dark Knight.
"Baby bowl." -- Sophia, referring to her portion of popcorn in an IKEA bowl.

Grateful moment:

I'm thankful our family doesn't live in a city as scary as Gotham City. Really. That place makes my hometown look like the Garden of Eden (except it would be more like the desert stretch bordering Eden).

Play, movie reward audience

Dan and I attended the Utah Shakespearean Festival's production of Cyrano de Bergerac on June 30. We found out that day Dan's friends were coming to see it, and we decided to meet up with them and enjoy the evening together before they left for Germany. I already wanted to see this play, but I thought we'd see it around our birthdays (July 26 and 27). I'm always telling Dan I like surprises, however, and this was a good surprise.

When I saw this play in my teens, I decided it was my favorite play ever since it combines so many great elements of storytelling. One can enjoy it on many levels, both as a heroic comedy and a romantic tragedy. Thanks to Wikipedia, I found out Edmond Rostand's character was based upon a real Frenchman of the same name who was a successful writer and duelist, and he did have a rather large nose, but he took pride in it. Rostand's Cyrano shies away from confessing his love to Roxane for fear that she will reject him because of his hideous nose. I enjoyed the duel between Cyrano and his enemy in which he composes a poem during the battle, and I love the part where he mocks the dimwitted man who tries to make fun of his nose, showing him how to cleverly insult someone. The actor who played Cyrano did an excellent job of portraying his confidence and bravado in battle and his inadequate feelings and angst involving his true love. The part where he woos Roxane for Christian underneath her balcony melted my heart. However, I did not like the way the blond actress portrayed Roxane. She played her in a very loud, prissy fashion, and it made me wonder during the course of the play why she was so deserving of such beautiful poetry and why Cyrano cared for her so much. I think the actress got her all wrong, and it should have been a demure brunette cast in the role (like in the 1990 Oscar-winning film). The play mainly rests on the shoulders of Cyrano, and therefore it earned high marks. I gave a standing ovation to Cyrano, but Roxane came out with him, so she got one too by default. I was considering coming back for The Taming of the Shrew, but I'm worried that the same actress plays Bianca in that play (it depends on whether it was the understudy that night, and I'm not sure). Also, the director decided to change the time period to post-World War II, and so that might ruin the magic of it for me. I can always watch the version with Elizabeth Taylor; she does a magnificent job as Kate.

Oh, I forgot to mention Dan's sentiments about the play. He told me Cyrano must have wanted or enjoyed feeling anguished in the love department, because otherwise he would have revealed his true feelings to Roxane. After all, Christian had died in battle and he had all those years he visited her in the nunnery. She even told him that she loved the SOUL of the man who wrote the love letters and that it would almost be better if he were ugly because his soul in itself was so beautiful. It does seem that he had his opportunity -- but then Christian died, and I suppose he felt a mixture of grief at his friend's death and guilt for his part in perpetuating the myth of her husband's poetic genius. I know that Dan would never be a Cyrano. He would not wallow in sadness or angst; he would declare his feelings and the devil may care. Did Cyrano worry she would reject him because of his nose even after she said looks didn't matter? Did he just not wish to shatter the image of her beloved Christian? It seems that he was willing to face death and defeat in battle, but his heart could not bear the possibility of rejection from his true love. Honestly, it is amazing Roxane showers love and tears instead of anger upon Cyrano when she finds out the truth. I mean, the man she married didn't write ANY of those love letters, and she could have enjoyed a wonderful, intimate relationship with Cyrano, and all she got was some crumbs from the table -- friendly visits. She got gypped. But if it turned out all rosy, then it wouldn't be as touching and poignant. Ah, love, amour . . .


We went to the theater as a family for the first time since Nathan was a newborn. We thought Nathan would really enjoy WALL-E since he's so into R2-D2; he says his name is R2-D2. It was a fun idea, and so the four of us headed there on June 28. We bought a huge tub of popcorn, drinks, and candy to keep the kids happy -- especially Sophie, our little twinkie. She enjoyed sitting on her Dad's lap and gobbled down popcorn for the first non-speaking part of the movie (I liked this part the best anyway, showing how WALL-E coped with solitude). Once the humans came on the scene, however, she wanted to explore, looking at the people around us and trying to escape to the aisles. I chased after her a few times, and I searched for other items in my purse to entertain her. Nathan stayed riveted to the screen; he really liked the flick. I had to ask Dan about a couple of parts later since I dealt with the munchkin. So it was a bit ambitious to expect a 21-month-old to enjoy a movie, but we still had a good time. It's amazing how Pixar can get us to care so much about a relationship between robots. I highly recommend it -- all the parts I watched, at least.

Quotes of the week:

"Bustin' makes me feel good!" Dan, singing the Ghostbusters lyrics.
"The bad baby has a green head and a red body!" Nathan, describing his nightmare.
"Where Papa go?" Sophia, looking for Dan when we played hide-and-go-seek.

Grateful moment:

I finished a book that talked about the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal. I'm not ambitious enough to want to write something every day, but I want to jot something down about once a week. I think it keeps one's spirits up to reflect on life's blessings. The problem with listing what you're thankful for is that it may come across as trite. So I'm going to really think about it and write what truly touches me at the moment.

I'm grateful my brother, David, is back in the U.S. after studying philosophy in Taiwan. He is such a happy, kind, fun person to have around, and I'm lucky to have him in my inner circle. Children really like David, and as Nathan said, "He's my friend and my uncle." Welcome back to the states, Dave!
I'm also grateful for rain. We received a huge downpour yesterday evening, and as I stood with the kids on the porch, I relished the thunder and the smells carried by the storm. We can always stand to use some water in the desert, and the red hills of sand across the street become more lovely, transforming into a vivid, crisp burnt orange.

Idol Concert

Brooke and Kristy attack Archie.

Dan and I went to the Top 10 American Idol concert in Vegas on July 5. We had a really good time. Dan told me he was going along because I wanted to go, mainly because he was worried there would be cheesy group numbers and lots of little teens running around, but it wasn't like that at all. They had each of the top 10 perform three numbers, with David Archuleta performing four and David Cook singing five including his encore. There were so many adults, and it was a mellow crowd -- the most mellow concert I've attended. It seemed like everyone was there to cheer on their favorites from the show, so it was fun. To show what a crazy Idol fan I am (this year), I'm going to share my take on each one's performance.

10. Chikezie -- He had the hard task of warming up the crowd, but he sang very well. I just didn't know his songs very well, so it was hard to get into it.
9. Ramiele -- She is a cute girl with lots of spunk. She sang offkey, however, and other than her Jackson 5 hit, I didn't know her songs much either. Great black boots though.
8. Michael Johns -- This Aussie should not have been voted out so early in the game. He got a lot of cheers when he came on the scene, singing "We are the Champions" by Queen. He did a great blues number too and an Aerosmith song. I think he's as good a singer as David Cook.
7. Kristy Lee Cook -- She really came out and did some great country numbers. I liked the patriotic "God Bless the USA." Dan said he was very impressed with her compared to how she did in the show (since it took a while for her to figure out her niche). If she had known country was her thing from the get-go, she could have gotten farther in the competition.
6. Carly -- This Irish lassie did the best job so far of relating to the audience. She said, "We were all losers about a year ago," and that she was living her dream performing in Vegas. She sang a song by Heart and did a GREAT job with Celine Dion's "I Drove All Night." This girl has pipes!
5. Brooke White -- She performed barefoot -- how classic is that?! She came up on the stage with a piano and started off with "Let it Be." Wow! She is amazing, and it must have been the pressure from the judges and stage fright that made her hold back before. She played the guitar and told everyone to "get your snaps on" for the song "1234" by Feist. She closed with a song I really like, "Yellow" by Coldplay. I like her style, and of all the Idols, I would be most likely to buy her music.
4. Jason Castro -- The one with the dreds. You know, he wasn't really my favorite in the show, but I did really like his number "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" while playing the ukelele. He just adds a new personality to the mix, which is why this season has been the best ever.
3. Syesha -- She told everyone to get on their feet and dance! She has a lovely voice. She did that song "If it ain't you babe" (is that the title?) and the umbrella song by Rihanna. The one that brought people to their feet was a song about following your heart. Dan was impressed with how she touched people to get an ovation, the first of the night.
2. David Archuleta -- He did an incredible job with great song choices. He sang the "Angels" song he did on the show, along with "Apologize," "Stand by Me," and "When You Say You Love Me." I can't believe he's only 17 years old. I think he'll do very well in the music industry, and he's only just begun.
1. David Cook -- He opened with a rock version of Lionel Richie's song "Hello," and this is what I like about him -- putting a rock twist on an old song. He sang an Aerosmith song, "Don't Want to Close My Eyes," and a song he dedicated to his brother called "My Hero." I think he wrote the song, and it had some fun chords in it. He performed the rock version of "Billie Jean" for the encore, which was a great way to wrap up the concert.

Oops -- there were a couple of group songs. One was before the intermission, when the first six performed a U2 song for the Idol Gives Back program to help out Africa. Then they all sang Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" at the VERY end. I really liked watching the performers shine -- without fear of getting voted out and having the time to sing the entire song. I did kind of wish the judges could be there, though, for Randy, the pitch patrol, to take Ramiele to task and to hear if Paula liked what they were wearing and to see if Simon was smiling or scowling. It was a great time overall, and the only drawback was the drive there and back. I wish all the performers well; it looks like they're having a blast.

Nathan's Birthday and Fourth of July

Nate's Mario Cake

Green Springs Water Park

Nathan turned 5 years old on July 1. We celebrated with family in town before the big day, and then we had a birthday bash with friends on that day at a local water park. Nathan was excited to get two cakes -- a Mario one my Mom made, and a Spider-Man one with his pals. He told everyone, "I'm getting TWO birthday cakes!" He got really excited for his scooter and R2-D2 from family. Dan and I got him more trains to go with his Thomas the Train set. He had fun at the water park too. The kids liked getting wet and throwing water balloons (Nathan's idea -- all the boys loved it). He got some great gifts and chowed down on the mint chocolate chip ice cream; he doesn't eat cake, but he LOVES his ice cream. It was fun to see him celebrate with friends from church and preschool. Nathan told me he had fun.

We celebrated the Fourth of July at my parents' house. My Dad grilled the burgers and prepared the feast for us. My brother is back from Taiwan, and we enjoyed his company. Dan and I took the kids swimming. Sophia had fun with her water squirting toy for a while, but then she got out and headed toward the door. Nathan, however, told me he wanted to stay in the pool "forever." I told him he'd turn into a raisin, but he didn't seem concerned. Then we met up with my younger sisters at Dan's office. We climbed a ladder to watch the fireworks from the rooftop. We had a great view plus privacy. Nathan liked the green fireworks, and Sophie tried saying "fireworks." The kids threw Pop-its on the ground, and that was the extent of our own fireworks. I asked Nathan, "Whose birthday is it?" He said, "America!" Happy birthday, America!