Random Notes

Feeling a little blue and overwhelmed. I was sick all last week and now it seems I've come down with a cold.

But I have watched some good movies lately!

Josh and I watched To Kill a Mockingbird. Wonderful movie. It did make me weepy though. For some reason, every nostalgia emotion crowded into my little ole heart and I spent the rest of the day with my throat (already sore) getting lumps in it and my eyes welling with tears. A couple of heartfelt sobs emerged from time to time. I missed my mom and dad. I missed my childhood. I missed Gregory Peck.

I did get over that though!

I watched the movie Waiting for Superman twice. Once by myself when I was too tired to get out of bed one day. I find it so interesting that it is the product of the same guy who did An Inconvenient Truth, which was so 'liberal' in outlook, since thinking global warming is a real threat is a 'liberal cause.' I put quotation marks because I really hate the stupid liberal/conservative break down of every issue. Anyway, this movie, Waiting for Superman, puts the failure of our public schools squarely in the lap of the teachers' union. Not so liberal there. And even goes to say that the two major teachers unions own the Democratic party at the federal level. They own some of the Republicans at the state level. A very moving movie that makes you think. I watched the movie again days later with Sean. I think he found eye-opening too.

I watched Werner Herzog's movie of the Chauvet cave in France. Whenever I see those cave paintings I think of G.K. Chesterton's book The Everlasting Man and how he starts off that book. And he didn't even have the benefit of these latest cave paintings (the oldest found so far 30,000 to 32,000 years old - discovered in 1994). Herzog is great except I can do without his narration which is almost comically tense with emotion. A little too theatrical for my tastes. But the movie was gorgeous and fascinating.

That's it for the movies.

I have watched two very inspiring clips on youtube lately:

Peter Kreeft's How to Win the Culture War

An Interview with Andrew Kern

I've also been listening to The Late Middle Ages, a lecture series by the Teaching Company. I listened to the Early Middles Ages by this same professor several weeks ago. It is very interesting and I am learning new things. I thought I had a better understanding of the Middle Ages than I actually do. The professor is excellent, however, he has a really nasal voice and he's always saying 'aaannnnddd' and thaaaaannnn.' That takes a bit of getting used to, but overall, the course is really intriguing.

This is all for my own self-education, though some has been shared with the kids.

Okay, I am girding my loins for today. I want to get a lot of academic stuff done this a.m. Rick is about to leave for the airport, a quick two night trip to California.