Random things

Over at LiveJournal, Zoethe said that Avatar is a massive race FAIL and her other half TheFerrett basically said that it's a beautiful movie with no actual plot, so I was totally ready to like Avatar only for the geek factor of the CG when my son and I found ourselves at the theater today. Guess what? I think that they both missed something huge here. Avatar isn't just the story of the strong white guy coming in and saving the poor natives, it's a story of a broken person finding wholeness in a new community, becoming a convert and an immigrant, and proving themselves by laying their own life on the line for their new people.

(Spoilers be beyond this point...)

Once upon a time, if you wanted to read a book or a short story by one of your favorite authors, you either had to borrow the book from a library or a friend or else you had to go buy it in a store. The key in any of those options is that you had to be physically in the same place as the book. If you lived in a country where that book hadn't yet been published, you may never get to see it. If the book had gone out of print, it might be very difficult to find a copy of the book. These days, you can read out of print books as well as numerous new works by great authors online.

My first grandson was born on Thursday August 13th just before 4pm. He had a little trouble getting here, so he spent his first night in a special care nursery, but not to worry, he and momma are both fine.

This has been especially wonderful because all three of my kids were together for this. My youngest son and I traveled to the US for the whole summer just to be here for this, and my daughter came up from California as soon as her summer term courses were done so that she could meet her first nephew when he was born. My eldest son is the father.

My eldest son's father is Guatemalan and my son has spent many vacations down in Guatemala with his grandmother who lives in a small village surrounded by coffee plantations. He says that the people who grow the coffee say that you can't eat the cherries because they will make you sick and you can die.

An email just came across one of the Israeli immigrant lists I'm on asking for advice about traveling back to the US with an 8 month old baby. Should they bring a stroller? What should they expect? What about car seats? I have more than a little experience in traveling with kids, so here's what I think about the matter...

I have been thinking about the ways in which life is art. How you live your life, the way that you shape your days, what you choose to do with your time, is all part of a tapestry. Parts of your life become stories, myths or even legends. Some of your life may be strikingly poetic. Single moments may be paintings in the eye of memory. And then there are the physical artifacts that you create or change: your home, the food you cook, maybe even literal paintings you draw or films you create.

This is Hot Mama's Espresso in Walla Walla, Washington. It's become sort of my home away from home (away from home) while I'm visiting my son for the summer. It's run by Cathy Rasley and her daughter Jenny.