Red says:

Lady Gaga seems to be on all the cool kids’ minds at the moment.  “She’s a performance artist,” they say, explaining why they love her, even if her music is cheesy.

So, I go on-line, and watch a few of her music videos, and just don’t get it.  There isn’t anything that makes her stand out from any of a hundred other over-produced music videos.  Puzzled, I let it drop.

And then someone sends me an article, and I finally understand what she’s trying to do.  She wants to be the Andy Warhol of music.  And perhaps she is succeeding.  I must admit that I have never been taken with Warhol either, though now in both I can appreciate that there is thought behind the art.

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Red says:

This year, a movie was released for my birthday, How to Train Your Dragon*.

One of my friends, from the ever more distant days of High School, and I used to use the term, “flying dragons,” to describe the right kind of job, the right kind of activity, the right kind of relationship.  If it is as fulfilling as flying dragons, as freeing, then you’re in a good place. (more…)

Patch and I had my mother visit for the holidays this year, and it was wonderful.  We spent lots of time introducing her to Patch’s extended family, playing games, and just spending time together.  I sometimes take it for granted that Patch and I each love and get along with each other’s families, we are so very far from the stereotypical animosity towards mother-in-laws.

My brother, on the other hand, isn’t even allowed to go to his fiancee’s family gatherings, and spends many major holidays home alone.  That makes me very sad, though he has accepted it as the status-quo.

All this ties in to the fact that I watched Knocked Up (the ’07 one, not the ’04) and Juno within a week of each other, and was very struck by both of them, for very different reasons.  The first was absolutely awful; it tried to be real by showing that everyone is impossibly flawed, and the only kind of love that can happen is when two people are so desperate that they will love anyone just so they don’t have to be alone.  The second, however, was utterly charming; it was real about flaws, but allowed each character to find love and happiness in the right way for them, not only despite, but because of their flaws.

I am lucky to live a life where Juno resonated so strongly for me, and I feel sad that Knocked Up resonated with anyone.