"Creepy Italian trees"

That is my favorite line from the movie Under The Tuscan Sun. It's also my favorite grown up watch-when-I'm-alone, getting-ready-for-a-trip or sick-in-bed movie. The Kid has been sick and home from school the last 3 days so it's been a week of sleepless nights (he's been up coughing and can't sleep) and quiet days (when he seems to sleep better). We've also watched a bit of really bad tv. There is not much on at 3:00 am except infomercials and bad Disney movies like the original Escape to Witch Mountain (1974). The Kid and I watched it anyway and we laughed at the very bad special effects (upside down helicopter, flying bag of flour) and the ridiculous story. It reminded me of all the Disney movies we used to watch when he was a little boy (and occasionally still do, although he won't admit it!)

When my son was born in 1993 it was the height of the new Disney movie era. Disney was churning out a film every year so my kid grew up with the "new" Disney classics. Aladdin was released in 1992 and The Lion King in 1994, by the time they came out on video my son was a huge fan (thanks to Disney and McDonald's Happy Meals marketing) and we watched both films repeatedly. Those movies were followed by Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998) and Tarzan (1999). Disney was also re-releasing their classics Cinderella, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Peter Pan so my kid grew up thinking anytime we put the little box (cassette tape) into the bigger box (VCR) everyone on tv was a cartoon.

As my son grew up Disney got replaced by Harry Potter. The first Harry Potter movie was released in 2001, followed by movies in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 and soon to be released 2010 and 2011. Now my kid was growing up with live action movies based on books (Yay!) and with characters who were almost the same age as himself. I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan and I'll be the first to admit it's been really cool enjoying the books and the films through the years with my kid. The book release anticipation, our yearly Harry Potter movie parties, it's just been really neat experiencing it all with a child who hasn't been too young or too old to appreciate it.

So now that my son is feeling better and back to school we probably won't watch any late night Disney movies for awhile. I'll pop in Under the Tuscan Sun and watch it on a rainy morning and start planning my next trip, maybe to Italy where I can look at "creepy Italian trees". I'll probably get stuck watching a Disney movie on the airplane.

Ever Wonder?

Have you ever seen the Disney movie Hercules? For awhile back in the late 90's it was my kid's favorite movie and I think we watched it daily. In the movie there are The 3 Fates, (sisters who in typical Disney style are old crones in the vein of the evil Queen in Snow White or Cruella de Vil), the Fates determine when a mortal will die and share 1 eye which they use to see into the future. I remember reading about the Greek Fates back in high school English class and was intrigued about someone having control over my destiny. Every day I read in the news about random violence, health problems and freakish accidents and I wonder, "Does it make any difference if I lead a good life, stay healthy, be cautious and see my doctor? Will The Fates cut my life cord or will bad luck, wrong place-wrong time or some psychopath do it for them?"
Last year there was a horrific crime in the county where my parents live in Florida. Truly anyone's worst nightmare come to life. A beautiful young mother and wife, abducted from her home in the middle of the day, driven around while she screamed in the car, witnessed by people who called 911, then raped and killed and tossed in a shallow grave. Nothing saved her, not her pleading on the phone to a 911 operator while she was in the abductor's car, not the clues she left behind like the ring she stuck under the seat with pieces of her hair for DNA, not her police man father who was searching for her, not the pleas of her husband. Her life cord was cut. After reading this week about the trial of her killer, who the authorities found after his own family called in to report he had kidnapped the young woman, Fate has been on my mind. It keeps me up at night. Wondering, worrying...Sure another tragic story will pop up in the headlines soon enough and the cycle of Fate or wrong place-wrong time will happen again. I guess it's what you do with your life that matters in the end. I'll continue to eat well, love, learn, travel, explore, share, give, and be cautious and hope that the old crones or some psychopath don't cut my life cord. And I'll remember that young woman in Florida and take comfort in the meaning her short life is having long after her cord was cut.

Reading and Watching as Escapism

Jade Goody died yesterday. Jade was the 27 year old British reality star I blogged about a few weeks ago (http://livelylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/02/reality-star-is-dying.html)who was dying in the public eye. The news that she lost her fight with cancer and left her 2 young sons, new husband and family and friends truly saddened me, but somehow also relieved me. Once her very large and public funeral takes place in the next week or so her stories will be taken off the front page and her family will go on without her larger-than-life personality. I truly hope she found peace and that the reality driven life she led benefits her boys. Financially Jade left her sons a comfortable legacy, emotionally no one can predict how they will be affected from her very public lifestyle. Regardless of the controversy, Jade was a devoted mother and lived life on her own terms and I will miss reading about her antics.

During the media siege over the tragic news of celebrities dying over the past week (Richardson and Goody) I felt the need to retreat a bit into make believe. On Saturday I hosted my favorite 4 year old for a tea party. We dressed up, drank "tea" with our pinkies up, watched a Disney Princess video and wore lots and lots of "diamonds". I really can't think of better escapism than Disney, although Jane Austen comes in close.
On Sunday I watched the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice (with Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Bennett)and when my husband walked into the bedroom last night and heard, "Mr. Darcy" uttered on screen he said, "Mr. Darcy? Is that what we saw at the theater last weekend? Haven't you had enough?". I answered, "No I can never have enough, it's the perfect love story".
In between my Princess tea party and Pride and Prejudice I retreated into my historical romance novels and for an hour or so I'm a heroine during the Regency era. In the pages of my favorite books, everything is left to fate, love prevails and there is always a happy ending. No one dies in a skiing accident, cancer doesn't kill young women and motherless children grow up to find love and happiness.