Day 12: Too good to be true?

You may have noticed by now that many of my favorite stories fall in the genre of comedy and romance. These genres are popular with the masses, but generally get less highbrow respect compared to "drama" or "realism" because real life as we (who aren't in denial) know it doesn't regularly include fairy tale endings such as the mystery getting solved, or lovers overcoming all their obstacles and misunderstandings to stare into each other's eyes forever. Real life just doesn't have that perfect weave of timing and main characters so that it all comes together amazingly well with loose ends tied up and all. These stories are just too good to be true. So some might say that these stories are enjoyable but slightly irresponsible escapes from reality, to be saved for poolside reading, or sort of like a dessert genre which is healthy only in small amounts and only after a nutritious meal of something more substantial like geo-political history or world news or religious commentary. Some might say, as I sometimes do to myself, "Come on lady, those stories are understandable for the pre-teen years when you are imagining the possibilities of your first tingly experience of reciprocated romantic affection, but a married woman enjoying that stuff? That's just sad. Get in the real world."

Sleepless in Seattle celebrates the romantic comedy by being one and by developing its plot as a nod to an all-time romantic film favorite: An Affair to Remember. There is a funny scene when Suzy (Rita Wilson) talks about the movie and how good it is and she starts sniffling and crying just to think about how wonderful it was when Cary Grant finally recognizes the truth about why his lover ditched him. Her brother Sam (Tom Hanks) mocks her sentimentality and says "that must be a chick movie". Then he and his brother-in-law make fun of her by recounting their favorite scenes in The Dirty Dozen with sniffles and sobs.

Why are women of all ages the main target audience of swashbuckling period love stories and romantic comedies? Because women are the sentimental gender and will always swoon with longing over a love story, even if they are a satisfied Mrs.? Why do ballrooms and proms and royal court costumes get marketed to the ladies, and war trenches and street crimes get marketed to the men? Do we collectively assume that men are more adjusted to the violent real world while women need their escape into lovey-dovey courtly fantasy? Why is there such a label as a "chick flick", and an assumption that the only non-chicks in audience are accompanying a chick in anticipation of scoring with said chick afterwards? Because men are considered to be pansies if they are moved by the emotions that rise up during moments of dramatic recognition? Are women satisfied with the warm fuzzy feeling of love and affection and locking eyes and hands and lips, and prefer experiencing sex vicariously through a book or movie where copulation can be all about golden orbs and turgid shafts and dewy flower petals, rather than the humping moistness of semen stains or stray pubes? Are the men wishing the characters would just have sex already, what is with the delay, and the dressing up, and the catching each other's eye during the dancing, and the love triangles, and the quarrels and misunderstandings, and tears and after all that, just a chaste kiss with violin music swelling, then right to credits?

I don't think it is helpful to anyone if the comedic love story gets put in the corner as a B-grade ladies-only genre. And I don't say that just because I'm a woman. As a participant in the Christian faith, I look forward with a significant level of longing to resurrection from the dead (a comic turning point to a tragic plot progression), a reconciliation of blind and clueless humans with their Creator (true love recognized at last), and a well-timed revealing of the true state of affairs about everything which has been long and deeply hidden (mystery and misunderstandings completely resolved). I have been learning to view the Bible as a collection of writings that describe a cosmic love story and anticipate its further unfolding as a comedy rather than tragedy, even though things look quite grim at every phase that could be called The Present Time. The Bible even sometimes names its main dramatic characters as if it were all about telling a fairy-tale romance: King-Bridegroom and a Queen-Bride. I think that my own Christian community suffers from ignoring this irony: the public announcing of the greatest story---An I'd-move-heaven-and-earth kind of Love that God has for his beloved people---is a task that has historically been limited to the gender which is (at least currently) conditioned by the broader culture to scoff at or keep a distance from the "too good to be true" unfolding of events in a comedy, romance, or fairy tale. Can the Bride of Christ fully mature in her identity if her public voice and story-telling perspective is overwhelmingly male? Will the Christian church be equipped to recognize the arrival of her Bridegroom if her leaders view the secular romance or comedy story as irrelevant or irreverent for use in Christian religious instruction, especially when it comes to eschatology?

I think if we reduce romance and comedy to an idealized ritual of sexual foreplay, we are missing the big picture of the real world. I think if we assume that mystery is just a crime drama plot of apprehending the "perps," we are missing the big picture of the real world. I think if the phrase "too good to be true" is regularly part of our vocabulary, and if we think we stay more attuned with the real world by watching the 10 o'clock newscast each day rather than listening to a daily fairy tale that nourishes our longing for an Ever After state of things, then we are scoffing at a most singular Christian hope in a future kingdom that is quite nearly arrived, but for the universal recognition and esteem of its monarch.

Day 11: Do you know who you are talking to?

He is reflecting on the past few hours of conversation with Verbal, staring reflectively at the coffee-cup in his hand. Then the coffee-cup falls to the ground and shatters. Apocalypse. He sees it all suddenly as he looks around at his desk and bulletin boards, and flashbacks of the conversation come back to mock him. He runs out of the office yelling down the hallway. Agent Kujan has recognized the criminal he is after, and he has to admit, to shamelessly borrow the words of the song, that this is the day he wakes up to find that the one he's been looking for has been here the whole time. (This delay of recognition fun is not only for love stories.)

When I saw the Usual Suspects for the first time, I was as clueless as Agent Kujan, so the story was not very enjoyable and not did not seem worth all the times I had to cover my eyes to avoid a gruesome scene of violence. But then in the last five minutes, I was shown what I had missed. The ending was enjoyable but only as a surprise that I did not see coming.

So the second time I saw The Usual Suspects, it was much more interesting. Not because anything had changed, but I could now interpret the story with eyes that recognized the characters for who they really were. It is way better to catch the clues early on about who Keyser Soze really is than to miss them, whether you are in the story about to be killed or tricked by him, or whether you are in a much safer place as audience member.

I guess it is not a happy ending if you want an enemy of the state to get caught, but Kujan was a very arrogant state agent and any story that deflates a character's arrogance in a appropriate way can be considered a comedy. Maybe you'll get the next one, Kujan, when you're not so cocky and sure of yourself. Maybe you need to think a bit more about why it is the Scooby Doo and Shaggy type of detective that has a much greater track record when it comes to reeling in the crooks.

Day 10: Don't Knock the Shoes!

Another favorite courtroom movie of mine is very popular comedy called Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon. I need to see this one again soon, it has been a while!

Elle uses a very different framework from your typical Ivy League law student when it comes to paying attention to details, and most of her classmates, including the boyfriend that dumped her now that he want to get serious about life, think that she is quite an airhead. This is a fairy tale all the way, because the heroine gets to be both beautiful and smart, graduates at the top of her class, gets to hear her ex-boyfriend express regret for dumping her, and wins the heart of a man with more integrity.

This story's main court case also has that satisfying moment of revelation of verdict in the public stage of the courtroom, and Elle gets to be the one to bring the examination of witnesses to that moment of apocalypse, all because of her particular attention to fashion detail. When she received an insult about her shoes, she recognized a mask that no one else did.

We as an audience love Elle, even with her outrageous tendency to coordinate in pink from head to toe, quill to puppy. In stories that deal with social heirarchy, we all long for an ending like this: that the snobs lose out on earning authentic respect from their peers, and that the ones prematurely labeled to be losers and outsiders by those snobs eventually receive enthusiastic recognition and honor because they do not show favoritism and have the courage to openly express their true selves.

Day 9: Recognizing the Truth

It is strange that I have not yet become a big mystery reader, because most mysteries are all about a delay in recognizing the perpetrator of a crime.

Mysteries are popular, and all the crime dramas that are long time hit shows on prime time television reassure me that many other people really enjoy stories of delayed recognition. Will the first response teams discover the truth on the crime scene, or will it be the forensic lab specialists, or will the truth have to wait till it's time for the courtroom production of witness, cross-examination and verdict by a jury?

Detectives and attorneys are very popular as lead characters in fiction and drama. I bought a book called Reel Justice: The Courtroom goes to the Movies a few years ago that is a compilation of all the major motion pictures that dramatize a court proceeding, with summaries and ratings for each one.

My personal favorite courtroom movie is A Few Good Men which stars Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore. The two favorite parts of mine are when Kaffee is walking around his house with his special bat during a setback in the case, trying to think, and he riffles with his bat through his hanging clothing in his closet. And suddenly he recognizes something: Santiago's closet as a major clue to the crime. He had looked in Santiago's closet long ago for clues and he saw those hanging clothes, but he did not recognize them as clues till much later. And that sets everything into motion for a clever cross-examination strategy upon Jessup.

And Jessup on stand is my other favorite part, because it is the dream outcome of anyone who is seeking justice: the witness-stand confession made in a public place. We don't want a plea-bargaining game played out in the privacy of the attorney's office. Neither do we get full satisfaction from going all the way trhough to the jury verdict, they are sometimes wrong and it is not the same as a criminal owning up to the truth and announcing their own verdict. Jessup's scene is so satisfying because Kaffee brings him to right up to the edge of self-exposure and Jessup takes the leap. Jessup cannot resist or avoid telling the truth about what he did. That ending is most satisfying. We don't even really care about his sentence or punishment, it was enough that he was forced to relinquish his pompous self-satisfied confidence and reveal his infantile raging irrationality to everyone. Love it! I'll never get sick of this one. And as many times as I've heard people say "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth," I know I'm not alone in loving this movie.

Day 8: Recognition, Revenge and Reconciliation

The Count of Monte Christo, Alexandre Dumas
The Story of Joseph and his brothers, Genesis 37, 39-47

I have to admit I have not read the Dumas novel for a very long time, so I am hazy on the details of the novel. But I do remember that a very abridged and illustrated version of this book was in my childhood library and I re-read that one many times. And when I read the full novel as a junior high student, I told everyone that it was the best book I had ever read.

Edmund and Joseph both are introduced in the beginnings of their stories as confident, well-favored young men. Edmund has the beautiful fiance, a new promotion and life seems to be smiling on him. Joseph is his father's clear favorite son, the firstborn of favorite wife who died, and now announcing his dreams which are predicting his great future of honor in his family.

But both have not noticed the murderous envy of friends and family members who feel that Joseph and Edmund are taking an unfair share of life's benefits. Both men lose everything and get whisked away from their homes and families without a chance to say good bye.

And they both are wrongfully imprisoned for many years.

And they both experience a turn of events that brings freedom and immense wealth and resources and influence.

But to end there with a happy ending would not be a good story, with the moral of the story that Joseph and Edmund needed to learn to be a little more cautious about whom to trust as friends or whom to invite to any party celebrating their good fortune.

No, a satisfying story has to bring about some sort of encounter with Joseph and his brothers, and with Edmund and his traitors. Some might be satisfied with a straight-forward action plot. As soon as you are free and can gather some weapons and some hit-men, show up at the door of your enemies, frighten them and kill them for what they have done.

Unfortunately a straight-forward action plot takes little imagination and brings about only a thin satisfaction and a lot of dead bodies, and a motive for further retaliation and revenge, putting the story in danger of never coming to an end, or worse, ending tragically as a story that is forced to stop with no satisfying resolution because all the main characters are dead.

Edmund and Joseph each take different paths of response when encountering the ones who have attempted to do away with them. But both men make sure that a delay of recognition is part of the encounter. Edmund seeks out each of his three enemies, discovers what makes them vulnerable and cleverly reenters their lives unrecognized, and then when he has brought about their worst nightmare of misfortune, he lets them recognize him. Joseph works out something even more creative and satisfying than revenge, even though it is hard to imagine what that could be.

Joseph's strategy of delay with revealing his true identity to his brothers has persuaded me that this story is one of the most interesting and prophetic and important stories in the Old Testament. Joseph has a handle on comedic timing. It kind of seems mean and manipulative, because he treats them in such an unexpected way that no wonder they become confused and terrified in his presence even before they realize it is the brother they sold into slavery: accusing them of being spies, challenging them to prove their honesty, imprisoning them, holding Simeon ransom, and then returning their money in their sacks of food. It is like he is playing a game with them. But what is the game? Is it revenge and wants to enjoy it more by taking his sweet time?

The game continues when they return for a second supply of food--he still does not reveal himself: but throws them a wonderful banquet, and seats them in birth order, which all makes them even more terrified. He meets Benjamin, but runs out before the tears come. Then he frames Benjamin for theft and adds to everyone's terror even more. The story looks headed for tragedy. It looks like the brothers will need to go back to Jacob without Benjamin and somehow have to live the rest of their days with the guilt of Joseph and Benjamin and Jacob's misfortune on their shoulders.

I am guessing that Joseph was never planning revenge, and I do not think he was playing this whole game with his brothers because he enjoyed watching them squirm. I think he knew that a good plot of reconciliation takes even more wisdom and attention to timing than a good plot of revenge. He was staging a redramatization of the day of his own enslavement, when he lacked a brother that would speak up and protect him. He was expecting that after all these years at least one of this band of brothers had matured in character enough to show leadership in brotherly advocacy instead of brotherly rivalry. And brother Judah had reached maturity, thanks to another delay of recognition story that I will talk about another day.

Joseph gets it when it comes to timing, that certain things cannot be revealed until the time is exactly right. That the time spent in the "delay" part of the plot demands unbelievable restraint and patience on behalf of the one who is yet unrecognized, and can be very painful and terrifying and confusing for those who do not yet see, but it is all necessary for the "recognition" part of the plot to accomplish a comedic resolution of the story's great conflict.

When I imagine the scene or plot of the future story of judgment day, the apocalypse, the last day, or whatever it is called in religious terms (and I admit I am a bit of a crazylady because think about it all the time), I don't expect an good-guy vs. bad guy action plot that results in a blood-bath. I don't imagine a complex plot of creatively wrought revenge and retaliation even though that would be interesting and satisfying at some level. I think of how Joseph treated his brothers, and I think of a delay of recognition that brings on a necessary dose of terror and confusion and shame and confession and speechlessness and all the emotions that Amanda had when Mrs. Doubtfire turned out to be her ex-husband, but that the moment of recognition leads the way into reconciliation and mercy and reunion and the real arrival at true love. I think of a kind of ending that is so satisfying that we laugh at ourselves for being sad that the happy ending has ended the story, and we wish that the story somehow could continue on now that the good ending has finally come.

Day 7: Is there Anyone Else?

Three of my favorite delay of recognition stories each include the same question, a question which confronts a family with their refusal to recognize the most significant member of their household.

Cinderella, classic fairy tale
Joseph and his brothers (the first trip to Egypt), Genesis 42:1-43:7
Samuel visits the house of Jesse to anoint a King, I Samuel 16

I think that considering the three stories together, even though they have differences, enriches all of them, especially if one imagines how each group of siblings would answer the following questions:

1. Have we excluded that sibling because we know deep down that he/she is special?
2. Have we purposely tried to prevent her/him from being noticed and honored.
3. Do we believe that one of us can possess the role that was meant for him/her?
4. What does it feel like to recognize that we are now overlooked, because we ourselves overlooked him/her?

Cinderella's step-sisters take turns at trying on the shoe, and David's brothers all step forward for examination by Samuel, and Benjamin's brothers attempt to present themselves at the Egyptian court as an intact set of siblings.

Cinderella "happens" to be somewhere else doing chores, David "happened" to miss the line-up, and Benjamin "happened" to not travel to Egypt with his brothers.

And then the question comes, "Is there someone else in your family?" Well yes, but it is just shabby Cinderella. Of course, but it is our baby brother David, and he must tend the sheep, you know. Well there is our youngest brother Benjamin, but he is needed by his father.

Those of us who know these stories well can recognize that the siblings and parents are foolish for trying to interfere with the story's progression by omitting one of their siblings in a gathering that is so important. Cinderella will offer her foot for a perfect fit, David will be crowned, and Benjamin will be an honored guest at Joseph's banquet.

I love it that the arch-duke of the kingdom, and Samuel the high priest, and Joseph in disguise have such perfect timing in getting around to asking the one question that forces the family system to admit a major dysfunction when it comes to how the siblings and parents determine status, significance, responsibility and honor among household members. When a household loves assigning labels like "favorite" and "reject", "leader" and "follower", their story just might not be finished until they all have experienced the distress that comes when an influential outsider mixes those labels all up.

Day 6: Blessing In Disguise?

Mrs. Doubtfire, 1993 starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan

Marguerite is not the only wife who was fooled by her husband's disguise. Miranda kicked Daniel out of her house and marriage, and then welcomed him back in as an elderly lady, Mrs. Doubtfire, her best nanny candidate. Every scene between Mrs. Doubtfire and Miranda is so enjoyable because she does not recognize his true identity, which makes her lines innocently full of humorous double meaning and irony.

And when he is finally recognized by his wife, my favorite moment of the movie, we hear Miranda call out his real name a half dozen times. Sally Field does a great job of repeating the word "Daniel" in a way that shows how many emotions can erupt at the same moment during an apocalyptic event such as an unmasking: She's shocked, confused, angry, creeped-out, mortified, amazed. She has to suddenly deal with the fact that the ex-husband she despises is the same person as the nanny whom she and her children love as a wonderful addition to their family. How could he have played such a trick on her? But how could she have fallen for such a trick unless she believed in a system where people are easily categorized as either scum or super?

I love it that the children, as children often do, have the ability to recognize their father long before Miranda could.

And I love it that Daniel was willing to take on so much discomfort, and hassle, and stress, and cosmetics, to be near the children that he loved so much.

Day 5: They Seek Him Here, They Seek him There . . .

In about sixth or seventh grade, I read several novels from my grade school library that would be described as "swashbuckling tales of intrigue." I think a cape, a wig, a horse, mastery of fencing, a finely tied cravat, and a readiness to leap into a swordfight or duel at any time are some of the characteristics of a swashbuckling hero. The novels I discovered were all set in France or England during or somewhat near to the time of the French Revolution and here are the three I would list throughout junior high and high school if ever asked my favorite books:

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas
Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini.

Here's a few more that would be included in this genre, but I did not read them several times like I did the above three. It is time to try them again:
Man in the Iron Mask by Dumas
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

So today I'll talk about The Scarlet Pimpernel. Our family discovered a great film adaptation of this book which is significantly different in plot detail, but just as wonderful with the character dynamics as the book. I'm sure I have seen the movie over two dozen times, and the book, well I have not only read it myself many many times, but I even talked a highschool boyfriend or two into reading it, maybe as a silly test of combatability--how could we have anything really important in common if he did not enjoy my all time favorite novel?

The Scarlet Pimpernel is all about delayed recognition. For the thrill and the principle of it, a British gentleman uses various disguises to sneak into Paris and rescue imprisoned French aristocrats during the Reign of Terror. He had just married a brilliant French actress and was ready to let his wife in on his secret when he heard that she was responsible for denouncing some of his French friends for treason to the Republic. So he plays his role as a shallow, slow-thinking, fancy-dressed dandy even more carefully with her.

The movie and the book both have great ways of showing how Marguerite and Percy play a game with each other at parties and when alone, with cold civility and a refusal to let the other one recognize true feelings and identity. Marguerite is just miserably wondering what she saw in him when she married him and why she can't see it anymore, and Percy is totally in love with her but has to keep her in the dark as long as he is committed to his project of rescuing people.

Another main character suffers from the inability to recognize the Scarlet Pimpernel, and that is the French government official, Chauvelin, who is mixing with London socialites to discover the master of disguise when he might have his guard down on safe soil. Time and time again he is right next to Percy and has no idea that Percy is the Pimpernel. It is so fun as he marches through the story firmly believing in his superior wits and to know that his day will come when he also has to agonize: "How could I have been so blind?"

The film adaptaion that I love so much was made in 1982 and stars Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews and Ian McKellen. How come I don't own this yet? And if you have not yet put it on your Netflix queue, read a few of the first customer reviews on this link and you'll be persuaded. . .http://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Pimpernel-Region-2/dp/B00005NSZB

Authors of a story . . . what would we ever do without them?

Day 4: Was blind but now I see

Emma written by Jane Austen
(and you have to see BBC's Emma starring Romola Garai
A&E's production starring Kate Beckinsale is good
Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone is a fun variation
I didn't like the version starring Gwyneth Paltrow now that I've read the book and seen a few other adaptations. The casting, chemistry and screenplay are all weaker.)

Jane Austen's heroine Emma happily sails through her 21st year with confidence that she has a clear eye for a good love match and that the unmatched friends around her will benefit from her assistance. She makes some matches in her head that suit her fancy and then interprets and manipulates and responds to all her friends' actions with a predudice based on the reality that is true only in her head.

She is blind to the perfect match that Harriet Smith could have made on her own if only Emma hadn't interfered. She is blind to the true object of Mr. Elton's flattering courtship. She unwittingly serves as a blind for Mr. Churchhill's game of cover-up. And as she busies herself with matchmaking, Emma is blindest of all to the fact that the empty place in her life created by Miss Taylor's becoming Mrs. Weston has made room for an even more suitable companion to spend her own days with.

And that unnoticed companion, like drummer girl Watts, loves with enough wisdom to wait with forbearance while Emma pursues all her dead-end pursuits. He lets time and events take their course till she gains the maturity and insight she needs to really see him and appreciate him and discover his suitability for her. The book has to wait till page 328 for Emma's eyes to be opened. We readers can be patient, especially when we learn just how many years her lover must have had to restrain himself with the words "wait and see."

So the novel of Emma has 55 chapters, and it is not till chapter 47 that Emma realizes that she is clueless and imperceptive, and may have sabatoged the best love match available to her. Chapter 47 is Emma's apocalypse. We often think of this word as meaning earthquakes and widespread doomsday of disaster and destruction, but an apocalypse is simply a dramatic or sudden revealing of what had been formerly hidden to perception. It may not look much like the movie 2012, but a person experiencing something that calls into question everything they assumed to be true is an equally terrifying and cataclysmic experience. The words and phrases that give this chapter a strong tone of catastrophe are not really hyperbole as the chapter recounts Emma having to let go of her life-long compass of reality:

perplexed
did not know how to understand it
"I begin to doubt my having any such talent."
She could not speak another word. Her voice was lost; and she sat down, waiting in great terror
forced calmness
consternation
. . .she acknowledged the whole truth.
Her own conduct, as well as her own heart was before her in the same few minutes. She saw it all with a clearness that had never blessed her before.
inconsiderate
irrational
unfeeling
blindness
madness
struck her with dreadful force
. . .her mind was in all the perturbation that such a development of self, such a burst of threatening evil, such a confusion of sudden and perplexing emotions, must create.
Every moment had brought a fresh surprise; and every surprise must be matter of humiliation to her. How to understand it all! How to understand the deceptions she had been thus practicing on herself and living under! The blunders, the blindness of her own head and heart! she sat still, she walked about, she tried her own room, she tried the shrubbery--in every place, every posture, she perceived that she had acted most weakly; that she had been imposed on by others in a most mortifying degree; that she had been imposing on herself in a degree yet more mortifying; that she was wretched, and should probably find this day but the beginning of wretchedness.
fancying
under a delusion
totally ignorant of her own heart
With insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of everybody's feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange everybody's destiny. She was proved to have been universally mistaken; and she had not quite done nothing--for she had done mischief.
. . on her must rest all the reproach.
. . .a folly which no tongue could express

This chapter is not the ending, though, only the crisis that comes from a long, long delay of recognition, and there are several more chapters which can take wonderfully take place now that Emma can see things a bit more clearly.
What an excellent story!

Day 3: A Salty Kiss on the Street

Before I go back to look it up online for a recall of the details of names and dates, I just have to say I remember the film's closing scene on the street. She's wearing a tuxedo and walking home crying, and then he comes after her calling her name, and she turns around and sees that he finally recognizes that she has been, as yesterday's song would put it: dreaming of the day when he would wake up and find that what he had been looking for was here the whole time . . . and the soundtrack music swells as they kiss.

Some Kind of Wonderful, released 1987, written by John Hughes, directed by Howard Deutch, starring Eric Stoltz, Mary Stuart Masterson, Lea Thomson, Craig Sheffer.

So the movie came out at prime time for me, a seventh grader and the target audience for this high school heirarchy and romance story by John Hughes. I've seen it many times, but not on DVD, so that tells me it has been a long time since I've enjoyed this one.

What makes the movie so fun to watch is that it is not too far into the story before the audience gets a bunch of clues that Watts is helping her best friend catch the beautiful girl only because she is so much in love with him that she'll do anything to remain in his proximity. Why else would she suggest he practice kissing on her? Why else would she be the chauffeur on his special date and put herself through that agony? She seems to think it wise to keep her feelings to herself and wait things out until he gets a clue about who is really the right girl for him. How could he be so blind? Even the girl he is chasing the whole time saw as soon as she met Watts that little drummer girl saw her as competition.

So this is a movie that I can watch and enjoy many times, even when I know exactly what will happen. It is so interesting to closely observe the blindness of Keith's eyes and the longing of Watts's eyes while knowing that the turning point is just around the corner, and that the misery will turn to joy when the time for recognition is perfectly ripe.

Day 2: So Why Can't You See?

The song is audio wallpaper in public places right now, so I was familiar with the tune a few months before I learned it was by a hugely popular and very young singer-songwriter named Taylor Swift.

I did not pay attention to the lyrics much at first, but after enjoying Emma so much and deciding on my Lenten writing topic, I've realized that the song is relevant to my theme: Delayed Recognition.

I can recount my grade school years by either the teacher I had that year or the boy I had a crush on that year. It was always an unrequited crush and it always faded after a few months. But part of the experience that made even unrequited crushes worth having was the hope and possibility that is so well described in the song "You Belong With Me":

Dreaming bout the day when you wake up and find
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me
You belong with me.

Yes the girl you are interested in now is not me, and that is a reality that I have to accept, but something will change. Not you, not her, not even me. What will change is your perception. You will recognize what you are blind to, and everything will be all right then.

The story that is told before recognition comes, before the boy sees that his oldest back-door friend is the love he has been looking for, that story is a kind that mixes loss and expectation in a unique way. There is misery, but hope and possibility help her bear it. The only thing missing is the ability "to recognize," and the song expects that if she'll just wait it out, time will pass and certain events will transpire to bring that recognition and relief around.

My all-time favorite stories, when I put them on a list together and compare them, all seem have this in common: "delay of recognition." Sometimes this delay is the result of a disguise or veil that gets removed later in the story. Other times the delay is caused by a character trait or belief system that causes a blindness which only time and the unfolding of action can correct. During the period before recognition, the story seems headed toward tragedy, and loss and regret are threatening to take over. But then without anything really changing except for a sudden recognition, and with impeccable timing that could best be described as "comedic," things turn out better than anyone could have imagined.

I think "You Belong With Me" is so hugely popular not just because there are a lot of American schoolgirls who form a crush and nurture the fantasy of requited love, but because we all, old and young, boys and girls, beloved and lonely, share the song's longing for a day when misery and loss and regret suddenly get eclipsed by the joy of a happy ending.

Day 1: Delayed Recognition

I had so much fun a year ago writing forty days of posts as a Lenten activity to prepare for celebrating Eastertime. The topic I have chosen this year is a bit more light-hearted than "blood" and will just scratch the surface of all the ideas I have about it, but maybe someday I'll write something more in-depth and responsibly-researched on this topic. For now, I am content with grabbing a few minutes here and there for some informal self-expression of ideas that my wash-machine and toddler and kitchen sink are not very interested in.

I've been recording the new season of PBS Masterpiece Classics again this past January. A year or two ago, they went through a whole series of films that were adapted from Jane Austen novels, and I enjoyed them, even though I had never been that interested in her novels. Over the holidays, when I saw the bookmark at my library advertising a 2009 BBC-produced mini-series of "Emma" premiering on PBS in January, I made sure my cable box was set to record. The first section was two hours long and I was interested, but thought the woman playing the title character was interpreting her character as too modern in mannerisms--"open" as opposed to "reserved" according to expectations of lady-like behavior of that period. I judged too early. The following week, after a few minutes of watching the 2nd section I was hooked and couldn't wait to see it all. I thought I'd have to wait another week for the concluding section, but PBS happened to air the concluding segment upon the next hour! Unfortunately I deleted that first segment right after I saw it, and somehow the concluding section got erased, and the middle section didn't get recorded until 20 minutes into it. On Tuesday, two days after I saw the conclusion of film, I stopped at three different libraries because I just had to get the book and read the full unedited combination of narrative and dialogue. No luck. But Borders had it and I read it with a pen in hand within a day and a half, absolutely could not put it down. This is the most interesting, enjoyable and satisfying novel I have read (as a first reading) in years. And so I had to think about why that is. Why did I immediately put every other screen adaptation of Emma on my Netflix queue? Why am I so thrilled with this story which takes place in the range of about two square miles of 19th century English countryside and is mostly sitting room conversation among people who have known each other for years?

Well I'm going to try to explore what makes me so delighted with certain stories as told in dramatic productions and literature that I keep going back to them over and over throughout the years and actually enjoy the story even more when I know what is all going to happen. I hope it will eventually make sense why I find this topic appropriate for Lent . .but until it all comes together, just take it all as a recommended reading/viewing list from a woman who sometimes gets sidetracked in her daily chores because she'll drop everything to enjoy a great story.

The Accident

Douwe was at Grandma's house looking at a Richard Scarry book last week, and he was captivated by the full page spread of a huge collision of vehicles, the ketchup truck, the mustard van, the egg wagon, etc. a huge mess and chaos. He kept asking to look at it and talk about it.

This weekend he has been using his animal drawer and his car/truck drawer to build pile-ups. Come see my accident, he told me several times yesterday. He spent a lot of time to carefully place each object exactly where it should be. It takes meticulous effort to make a good scene of chaos!

Milwaukee Visit

We went up to Milwaukee early Sunday morning to visit Mike and Jackie and see their new house and spend some time with them before their baby comes. We met at Alterra for brunch, did the Sprecher tour and rested and talked till dusk, then spent several hours preparing a great meal at their home. A polenta torte with three different layers, and a soup with mushrooms and pancetta.


On Monday morning Mike and Jackie went off to work and we took Douwe to Milwaukee's Children's Museum which he thoroughly enjoyed.



We stopped in our old Lakeview neighborhood on the way back through Chicago for Jeff to get trimmed up by his favorite barber and a late lunch at SuVan's where I worked for a few months when we lived there.

A fun weekend, thanks for the hospitality Mike and Jackie!

Oak Ridge Sledding Hill

We had a nice excursion to the sledding hill this morning, met up with Emily, Abby and Dave, and Alison and family. Steve was with us b/c he was an overnight guest last night. Douwe preferred not to sled, but to watch the trains and planes from his bench seat and drink the hot chocolate. Everyone else had a great time sledding and spinning out and hitting the little jump and racing. It was a beautiful morning to be alive and bundled up.

Three Floyds

At my husband's request I have refreshed the link on this blog that will direct you to the Three Floyds website Jeff and I stopped at their brewpub for a beer and a sandwich last night and he reminded me that many people around the country would kill for the opportunity to drive a mere three miles to the source for a draft of Dreadnaught. That was to encourage me to down the last few swallows of such a rich and potent brew.

We were pleased to see the pub's menu has been revised with some interesting new dishes, and that they are now open on Mondays. They are also lobbying for being exempt (as wineries are) from the state law that bans retail sales of alcohol on Sunday, since many weekend customers have come from a long distance and want to take some product home. And Jeff is aspiring to actually get a place in line this April for his first taste of the treasure that is sold from the loading dock only once a year on Dark Lord day.

Humans are so creative! When I look over a very, very long list of so many different beverages concocted from fermented plant parts, I just feel glad to be in the presence of people who are wholeheartedly doing what they love and doing it well. Wouldn't it be great if everyone could find their own niche of passion and talent like the Floyd family certainly has.

Back to Three

Our family size is back to three as we said goodbye to Gabe and Karma over the weekend. We enjoyed a winter walk at Carlson Oxbow Park and got to use the special thermos that is perfect for drinking hot chocolate on a winter hike. . . .

Mushroom Adventures

We see our sleeping garden out the back window each day and are looking forward to spring and the first growing season for all the boxes at once.


Jeff is taking on a big project this time by planning the beds and he has ordered seeds and a light tray to start everything at the time it is supposed to be:

But we have had a very interesting crop this week, from a Christmas present that Jeff gave me: a box of dirt. Well it is a special box because it has the right mix of ingredients (just add water and wait) to grow mushrooms.

Here is the first crop, almost ready to go.

I picked our first batch on a Saturday and a second batch on a Monday, so we had two delicious meals (our favorite way to prepare portobello mushrooms):

First, they marinate in a garlic/oil/balsamic vinegar mixture for an hour:

Then they grill (we stayed indoors this time and just used a stovetop griddle)

Some plum tomatoes too,

And then it goes on a toasted roll spread with ricotta, salt and pepper, a little more oil and vinegar and a few baby greens. Better than a burger, it really is. I know, "adventure" is maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it is kind of fun. We are supposed to get a harvest every two weeks for a couple of months if only I can remember to keep the soil damp. I am very neglectful of my houseplants . . .