Author: Faith

Opening This Weekend

So as many of you know, I have a teeny tiny crush on Neil Gaiman. Like many a fangirl, I was hooked once I read his Sandman graphic novel series. I enjoy the stories he writes and the voice (the dreamy, dreamy voice) in which he writes them.

Coraline, a movie based on Gaiman’s book of the same title, is opening this weekend. Word on the street is that it’s pretty good. The animation, done almost entirely in stop-motion, is supposed to be great. I’m really looking foward to seeing it but unfortunately we’re pretty busy this weekend so it looks like I’ll have to wait a bit. But if you have the time check it out.

FYI, it’s kind of dark, so I wouldn’t take tiny little kids to it–maybe those 9+ would be okay? (I have a hard time judging this sort of thing since I don’t have older kids.) It is by the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, after all. As A.O Scott said in his review for the NY Times:

There are many scenes and images in “Coraline” that are likely to scare children. This is not a warning but rather a recommendation, since the cultivation of fright can be one of the great pleasures of youthful moviegoing. As long as it doesn’t go too far toward violence or mortal dread, a film that elicits a tingle of unease or a tremor of spookiness can be a tonic to sensibilities dulled by wholesome, anodyne, school-approved entertainments.

So there you go: if you take your kids you can rest assured that you’re giving their “sensibilities dulled by wholesome, anodyne, school-approved entertainments” a much-needed tonic. (But then again Mr. A.O. Scott doesn’t have to get up with your kid when they wake from a nightmare at 3am.)

So to sum up: go see Coraline but please don’t get mad at me if it freaks out your kids.

Letter: Month Fifteen

Dear E,

Today you’re fifteen months old. This morning I was thinking about what I wanted to say in this letter and I have to admit, I was waxing a bit sentimental. You’ve grown quite a bit this month.


You’ve mastered walking and now toddle around using an endearingly awkward high-stepping gait. For a while you were under the mistaken impression that your legs were long enough for you to walk down the stairs (don’t worry, you didn’t have any major spills) but after some practice you now know to sit down at the top of the stairs and scoot down on your stomach. You’re surprisingly quick at it and don’t have any trouble following us from floor to floor now. Occasionally you’ll misjudge the distance and and sit down too far from the stairs and end up scooting backwards on your stomach down half of the hallway which cracks me up.

One of your favorite things to do lately is to nest objects into other objects. There was an empty mug on my nightstand and it’s now one of your favorite things. When I’m getting ready in the morning you like to carry your mug around and drop things you find into it. You also love finding my hairbrush and carrying it around. You like to try and brush your hair.

You’ve also become more interested in books this month. You pick them up and hand them to me for me to read. Your current favorite is Good Morning, Little Bert, which is one of the books the hospital gave you when you were there overnight for an allergic reaction.

Anyway, as I was saying, this morning I was feeling sentimental. You were being really cute, stomping around and giggling and babbling, and during this last month you’ve really grown. But then in quick succession you 1) refused to take your morning nap, 2) decided that the only thing in the world worth doing was was pulling cds off the shelf, and 3) overturned a large glass of water I had forgotten on the coffee table.

I have to admit, those mushy feelings disappeared right way. You were being so frustrating and you know, opinionated. After I cleaned up the water I put you in your crib for attempt number two at your nap. And again, you simply were not having it. After ten minutes of listening to you bawl I gave in and pulled you out of your crib, tears and snot running down your face. We sat together in the rocking chair and I sang to you and we rocked. You calmed down and cuddled close. Every time you caught my gaze you smiled, happy to be with me. And after everything was said and done, I was happy to be with you.

Love,

Mama

P.S. – But seriously dude, stop pulling the cds off the shelf.

Woodworking Class Tonight

I have woodworking class tonight. Class started last week but tonight’s the first day of actual shop time. This semester I’m planning on making a couple of jewelry boxes. I still need to finalize my plans but they’ll probably look a lot like the photo below.

I’ll be taking pictures as I go and posting about my progress.

E’s Second Haircut

Yesterday afternoon I took E to get a haircut. It was only the second time he’s been to have one and well, he flipped out. He cried and cried and stood up out of the little car he was sitting in and tried to escape. The cut ended up being shorter than I would have liked but I can’t really blame the stylist since E was such a difficult customer.

Thankfully E got over the trauma pretty quickly and since then has been rockin’ his new look. This morning at breakfast he was being pretty sassy.


Recipe: Teriyaki Chicken and Dressing

Last night some friends from work came for a little dinner/knitting party. I made teriyaki chicken and served it with rice, kimchi, and salad. I love this teriyaki chicken recipe: it’s super easy.

Both of these recipes are from my awesome Japanese neighbor Yuki, who generously loaned me a cup of soy sauce last night when I ran out! The teriyaki recipe is definitely a keeper for us: it’s free of E’s food allergens and he loves it.

Teriyaki chicken

  • 1/2 C. brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 C. water
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 3 cloves minced/pressed garlic
  • 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
  • 3/4 C. chopped green onion + extra for garnish
  • 3/4 C. soy sauce
  • 4 lb chicken thighs (remove skin and fat)

In a large pot, mix all ingredients except for chicken and green onions for garnish over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add chicken, bring to a boil, cover, then lower heat to about medium. Cook until done, stirring occasionally, about 45 min to an hour. Place chicken on a platter and garnish with extra green onions. (Don’t forget to serve the gravy from the pot on the side, it’s great over rice!)

Asian Sesame Dressing

  • 1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 of a carrot, chopped,
  • 1 small clove of garlic
  • 30 gram (4 1/2 of Tbsp) – sesame seeds
  • 50 gram (4 1/2 of Tbsp) – white sugar
  • 350 ml – vegetable oil
  • 100 ml – rice vinegar
  • 130 ml – soy sauce

Blend together in a blender for a couple of minutes until smooth and then strain and discard the pulp. Will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. (This recipe makes a whole blenderful; you’ll probably want to halve it.)

Boon Bath Pods

Bleh. We are all officially sick in some way or another. E has a normal cold, N is recovering from a super gross sinus/throat infection (complete with ruptured eardrum!), and I am in the beginning stages of what N had but am desperately trying to fight it off with zinc and orange juice. I haven’t taken any new pictures of E in a while but will try to get some this weekend.

But in the mean time…have you seen these bath storage pods by Boon? They come in frog and ladybug styles. I think they’re cute but more importantly, smart. The scoop detaches so you can scoop up bath toys and let them drain dry and get them out of the way.

Once E outgrows the sink I’ll probably get one for the tub. I love Boon products; E’s highchair is made by them and it’s great.

Sundance Part Three

On Saturday N and I drove to downtown Salt Lake City to grab a quick bite to eat and to watch two shows at the Rose Wagner Center. We were short on time so we gulped down sandwiches at Caputo’s, paused to drool over their amazing cheese selection, and headed to the theater.


The first show we saw was Dare, a coming-of-age story about three rich high school seniors trying to break out into adulthood and explore their sexuality. It was my least favorite film out of the six we saw and I’m having trouble mustering up the enthusiasm to give it a full review.

The best thing about it was Zach Gilford’s performance. We got tickets to Dare mostly because it had Gilford in it (He plays Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights which I think is one of the best shows on TV.) and it was playing at the same theater as Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.

I liked Brief Interviews with Hideous Men a lot more. Based on the collection by David Foster Wallace, the film was written and directed by John Krasinski (aka Jim from The Office).

The framing sequence for the film is this (from the festival description): A doctoral candidate in anthropology at a prestigious East Coast university, Sara Quinn thinks she can remedy both her heartache and her academic challenges with a new research project and begins conducting a series of interviews with men. As she records the astonishing and disquieting experiences of various subjects, Sara discovers much more about men—and herself—than she bargained for.

The real stars of the film are the interviews and the monologues taken from the book. Sara doesn’t have much to do except to react to the words and actions of the men around her and so it’s pretty obvious that she’s a framing device and not a full-fledged character. At times I found myself eager for her to quit moping about and get off the screen so the next interview would start. It’s a difficult book to adapt for a movie but I think Krasinski did a pretty good job overall.

Whew! And that, my friends, is that. No more droning on about Sundance movies from me. I was kind of running out of steam at the end, as I’m sure you could tell. Tomorrow we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.