A few reviews

Originally, I had wanted to do a blog post on things I liked that started with the letter L, but I had to expand my horizons.

I had read Lolita in high school and didn't enjoy it at all. I reread it on the California trip and was completely mesmorized. Nabakov is such an extraordinary, talented writer, and the rather infamous plot reveals a story on so many levels. When I first read it, I could not get past the obvious story; the abuse of a young girl by a pedophile. The novel is also the hidden story of Dolores (Lolita is Humbert's nickname for her); the horror of what hapens to her is only revealed in the tiniest details. Humbert (the narrator) believes that everything he does is justified by his deep and truly felt "Love" for the young girl. I read somewhere that the story is about the subjugation of one human being by another because of an ideal (which is one of the most dangerous talents that humans have). That is a pretty pitiful review, but I cannot recommend the book highly enough. I was especially suprised to read that N wrote at least some of the book while collecting butterflies in Ashland, OR. I was also quite pleased that I could identify a literary reference to an Edgar Allen Poe poem in the book.

Lars and the Real Girl was a much sweeter and good natured movie than I anticipated. Ryan Gosling is a very impressive actor for taking such an odd role and making it such a lovely story. kind of wanted to give him a hug through most of the movie

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I thought the movie was decent, but I LOVE the sound track to the Darjeeling Limited. It's weird mix of 70's Rock, French pop songs, and Indian music is great. I have been listening to it for days and the kids love to dance around to it.

Girl's Rock is the Documentary we took the kids to tonight. It is about the girl's rock n' roll camp run in Portland by the former bassist for Sleater-Kinney. Although taking four young kids to a movie always involves questionable logic, you can get away with a fair amount of rowdiness at the Olympia Film Society. It definitely made me feel quite hyped up about having strong and bold daughters. It was also very cute to see Elias spontaneously head banging during the performances.