The Exorcist is NOT Overrated.

The Exorcist, Linda Blair | 20 'Classic' Movies You Call Overrated | Photo 12 of 21 | EW.com

I'm cruising along on the Entertainment Weekly website, reading about "Movies You Call Overrated", when I notice that The Exorcist is on the list. Someone commented that they didn't understand why the film was considered a horror classic. I was flabbergasted. Yes, that is a real word.

You don't get why it is considered a horror classic? O.M.G. I guess that you had to have been around when it first came out. I wasn't old enough to see the movie and we were living in Germany at the time, but I can remember the priest at church talking about the mass hysteria that surrounded this movie instead of the readings for the day. It seems that people who weren't even Catholic were freaking out and thinking that they were possessed by the devil! For me to remember a church homily at that age is astonishing, so you know that it made an impression. I had no intention of seeing the movie at all--just the idea scared me. Catholics tend to take the whole concept of demonic possession extremely seriously, and at that point we were all indoctrinated from birth that possession was not a good thing.

But then I was in high school and The Exorcist was on television in edited form. My mom and I watched it one Friday night. Eek! Being an auditory person, the thing that scared me the most were some of the voices that the demon possessing the little girl would use. Also, the scene where her head turns completely around freaked me out quite a bit--I couldn't get that shot out of my head for awhile. Actually, that still kind of creeps me out. I was so scared after the movie that I couldn't go to sleep until I found my Miraculous Medal and put it on. The next day when my mom and I were in church, the priest who was holding the service just so happened to look like Father Damien! Eek! I wore my Miraculous Medal for about six months after seeing the movie just so I could sleep at night. I guess we can all agree that the movie made an impression.

As I asked around, those people my age that I asked about the movie generally had the exact same reaction that I did. It seemed universal, an instinctive reaction.

Being one of those weird people who believes that it is important to face your fears, I decided to read the book when I was in college. The book is more or less written from a psychological standpoint, and is therefore less likely to give one the frights. I heaved a heavy sigh of relief. And then I read a book about the 'true' story behind The Exorcist. THAT book scared the bejeebers out of me! Of course I can't seem to find the book on Amazon(probably out of print), but there was a History Channel show about the incident.




All that, and all those years ago, and The Exorcist still makes me feel, at the very least, nervous. THAT is what a good horror movie is supposed to do. You're supposed to be scared, yes, but that fear is supposed to stick around for a little bit, just to remind you that even in this very modern world, there are still things out there that can go bump in the night and mean it.

Fear of the Dark

My son is not afraid of the dark. In fact, one of his favorite activities is to go into a dark room and shut the door behind him. He laughs when he's alone in the dark with the door closed.

My husband finds this odd. ALL children are afraid of the dark, he says. It's genetic, he says. We agreed to disagree, because it's very obvious that Zane isn't scared, at least, of the darkness. If genes do play a role, then Zane gets his fearlessness from me. But I don't believe that specific fears are genetic; I think that they are learned. Things happen to us as children that make us fear the dark.

I'm not afraid of the dark, either. It's what might be IN the darkness that scares me. Always has, but Zane doesn't know about any of that yet. He doesn't know the rules about closet doors always being closed and not ever looking under the bed at night. I don't even know that he will ever need to know those rules, either.

There are things in the world that are much scarier than darkness, and I don't have to tell any adult that because they already know. That line about looking into the abyss? Too many of us have already seen what's in there and we are scared. We don't want our children to know about that place, but they usually find it even with our best intentions.

Soon enough, Zane will be afraid of of something in this world, since fear is a hardwired survival response. He hasn't even been exposed to clowns, for example. *shudder*

Hair Therapy

I need a haircut. I need one bad, but I am not sure what kind of haircut I want just yet, so I am holding out as long as I can. Having a great haircut is so very important to my confidence that I feel like I need to be cautious about my decision. I've made bad decisions about my hair before, like that time when I thought I could cut my own hair, but I'd like to think that I learn from my mistakes.

Every woman needs to have a good relationship with the person who cuts their hair. A good relationship starts with trust. My "second longest committed relationship with a man I am not related to"(the first being my OB-GYN) was with the man who cut my hair. My 'hair therapist', I called him. All I would need to do is sit in the chair and talk to him about football and movies, and he always knew exactly what I wanted. And he didn't charge me bajillions of dollars, either. (Clue: if you pay more than 50$ for a haircut, you are not paying for the haircut, but something else.) We had twelve wonderful years together...and then the bastard dumped me, and most of his other clients, to go gallivanting around Louisiana. I'm sure Billy had his reasons, but I'm still a bit irritated that it was so easy for him to run off.

I wasn't heartbroken so much as discombobulated. After all that time with someone who always seemed to know exactly what I wanted, how was I supposed to find that kind of trust again? I decided to try a woman this time around. I walked out of several different sessions with several different stylists, not really happy. It sort of felt like I was dating again! I finally found Nancy, and she gave me a wonderful haircut, a bob. I was very happy with it, and felt it was flattering.

Until I started immediately noticing that EVERYONE on the planet had the exact same haircut. I am not kidding. Old ladies, little kids, you name it--they all had bobs. I went into a restaurant one day--and there was a table of six women, all with the SAME haircut. OMG. O.M.G. It was like I was in some sort of gawdawful horror movie where I kept running into bad replicas of me.

So I went back to Nancy and I told her straight up that I did NOT want to look like every other idiot in town. I wanted something different. And she agreed...and I walked out of there with the exact same haircut, only longer. *sigh*

There must be a hair style that will look good on me that 95% of the female population doesn't also have. I don't have to look like Angelina Jolie(*snicker*--like that would ever happen without serious plastic surgery and a wheelbarrow full of makeup) but I would like to at least look presentable. Also, I have about twenty minutes to get ready in the morning so it would have to be a hairstyle that is easy to fix and easy to care for. I have baby fine, straight hair that I would like to wear at medium length. Surely this isn't a problem for someone who knows how to cut hair?

So I guess I'm in the market for a new relationship with a new 'hair therapist'. They don't have a "Match.com" for stylists, do they? Bummer.

Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

I love these commercials. They remind me of all the ideas about romance that were forced on me as a girl growing up. All those myths about what a man was supposed to be, and what romance was about, and how, when you met "THE ONE", your happily-ever-after life was supposed to proceed. You know: your man never once complains that you nag, your boobs/butt/knees never fall, and your children always do exactly what you say.

The reality is much better.

Louis CK - Kids Names

A little bad language at the end, but still funny!

Summer is Sleepytime

This is the point in my year when I realize that I will have to go back to work in less than a month. It's depressing. Just when I get used to not having to be awake at the crack of dawn, I have to get used to being awake at the crack of dawn.

My natural sleep rhythm would have me wake up at around 10am every morning. It has been this way my entire life. My natural bedtime is around 11pm, but I can push it to midnight. Too much later and I'm a mess the next day. But if I operate according to my natural rhythm, I can be productive. Life is good.

Unfortunately, nobody else on the planet seems to be the least bit interested in sleeping past 7am, including my son. So I am screwed.
Another issue for me is nap time. Since I can't sleep until 10am, I need a quick nap right around 1pm. If this country had siestas, it would be perfect. Research after research says that people are more productive after a nap, that we require the proper amount of sleep. But we happen to be a nation of idiots when it comes to sleep cycles, so I have to fight to stay awake. Which sucks.

To Kill A Mockingbird 50 Years Later

Today marks 50 years since the publication of Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird.




I read this book in high school. I fell in love with the characters, especially Atticus Finch. Who wouldn't? A father who always said/did the right thing, was fair, and was generally a good man. An archetypal character. Even today the character of Atticus Finch resonates, although most people think of Gregory Peck in the role. People don't write characters like that anymore.

So here's to you, Harper Lee. You did a good thing.

Saturdays can be fun!

So I am chasing my laughing son around the house, threatening him with...the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That's right--I'm chasing my son with a stuffed white rabbit with enormous teeth. Occasionally he slows down enough or purposefully stops and hunkers down so the rabbit can 'nibble' on his feet, especially his toes. Sometimes I let the rabbit grab onto Zane's shirt before he takes off running, sometimes I let the rabbit try to tickle Z's armpits. Zane loves all this running and tickling and giggling. Mama loves it, too.

I just hope he doesn't ever find out about the Holy Hand Grenade.

Bad Habits

My son has picked up a few habits while at the daycare. Some are good. He no longer freaks out when we drop him off--he just goes to where the teacher tells him, looks at me and says "Bye". He talks a LOT about "baby school", at least a lot more than he did before daycare. He also hasn't had any issues with hitting kids in a long time, and when I've been able to watch him secretly he seems to have some kids he has made friends with. He says 'please' and 'thank you' regularly. Those are all great social behaviors that I worried he would not ever acquire, so yay.

Attending daycare, however, my son has acquired some bad habits from his peers. Some are driving me a bit crazy. Before daycare, my son only cried when he was hurt or was in trouble for something. But now, if you tell him 'no', he starts to 'cry'. I mean he goes through the SOUNDS of crying without actually crying. He even puts his fingers in his mouth for extra dramatic effect! And it's the most fake 'cry' I've ever heard, too. My husband still hasn't figured out the difference, but I can tell without even looking at my child that he's faking.

Another thing my son does is respond to everything you ask him with a casual "no". Zane went from never saying the word 'no' to using it all the time. Pretty much every question you ask him is answered "no", no matter what. Right now I have to assume that he does mean 'no', until data convinces me otherwise.

The final behavior my son has been exhibiting since he started daycare is sheer bossiness. He's been ordering everyone in the house around these days, and if we don't do as he says he tells us to "go and sit!" It's cute when he's ordering one of the cats around, but not so much when he's telling me which chair I can sit on. I've been put in Zane's version of 'time out' several days in a row for not complying. We won't talk about Daddy.

Athletes Rock Adaptive Action Sports

I think this is awesome--people who aren't willing to let their disabilities hold them back. I wish some of the students I work with had that kind of attitude. Even if you don't succeed, if you've done your best, there's definitely no shame in that.

It's so easy just to give up when you have a disability--and some parents encourage this. If you never fail, you'll never be disappointed, they think. I know it's because they think that it will do more harm if their child fails at something, and I can't fault them for wanting to protect them. But it's a cop out, I think. No parent wants to see their child fall, and some think that failure is a reflection on the parent.

Eventually, however, that disabled child will be an adult and will have to learn to roll with the failures of life as well as the successes. As a parent, you want your child to be a successful adult, and it's your job to prepare them to be just that. Part of that preparation is letting them try things, like skateboarding, even if you think it won't end happily. Kids can surprise you with what they can do if they know their parents are supporting them. And if it doesn't work out, then that wonderful child will learn that they can do some things but not others, and they will move on. They will learn resilience, which is what every kid needs these days. Is that so bad?