The Queen's Rambles

As much as it pains me to admit it, I’ve never been a big fan of the Harry Potter movies. Rabid book fan, yes. Movie fan? Just luke warm. The first movie was a thrill for the special effects, but I found the plotting and casting to be almost too painful to watch.

The movies have definitely improved over time, though I think number 3 must be my favorite. You can tell I wasn’t too fussed over the whole thing, though, because I didn’t see HP1a until yesterday.

We finally gave up on the idea of getting a sitter and Mike and I are taking turns (he’s at the theater now).

Our local theater is only running it late at night, so we found a theater down in the middle of bigger city, plugged in our new nav system (whoo-hoo!) and away I went.

Apparently everyone else wanted to see it at noon, too. The place was packed out and I ended up sitting in front of a set of grandparents with three little kids. Little as in probably 4-6. Way too young for this type of movie.

I tried to concentrate on the film, even though it was very true to the book and felt like it was mainly boo-hooing out in middle of the woods. I was bored. The kids behind me were bored. The grandparents behind me didn’t have a clue what was going on. I don’t think any one in the family had ever had exposure to HP before. They would not shut up, then they were scared, then they were bored and still. Would. Not. Shut. Up.

So overall not the most pleasant movie experience in the world. I should have waited for the DVD. Should you wait for the DVD? I don’t know. How big a fan are you? Make sure you sit far, far away from little children. What’s the point of having a time out on the town without your little kid if you have to listen to someone else’s little kid whine the whole time?

On the bright side, the acting has improved tremendously. Even dopey ol’ Rupert did a fine job.

Erik is totally hooked on HP now that he has the Lego Wii game. He spent all morning watching the little Lego movies and asking me ten million questions about the story line. It’s very satisfying for him since I can actually answer his questions (unlike when he quizzes me about the Star Wars story line), but he does get frustrated because I can’t really explain the characters’ actions and motivations in a way that makes sense to him. The whole idea of Harry’s parents dying and then him being raised by the horrible Dursley’s defies 5 yr old comprehension.

How about some family gossip?

My sister got a job! Thank fred! She’s working at the same place she’s worked before. She always leaves when she has a baby, so let’s hope that trend doesn’t continue. She’s a dental assistant at a low-income clinic. She always does a lot better when she’s working. There’s not as much boredom in her life and she is around more educated people, which is always good for her. She’s very influenced by the people around her.

I was reading an article about boredom the other day and it stated that the scariest people on earth are the people who can’t deal with boredom. They are the addicts, psychos, and so forth. So so so so so so so so so true. A truer sentiment has never been written. I have always known that my sister’s problem is that she can’t stand to be bored, but I never thought of it in broader terms. So how do you teach someone to deal with boredom? Is it an innate quality or something learned? I want to make sure my kids can deal with boredom. Maybe I should lock them in their rooms and see what they do (just joking).

And now I have a boy demanding lunch so I guess I better go and be a good mommy and feed him. If you’re looking at the time stamp I swear I am not negligent. He didn’t get out of bed until almost 10 am, which puts the rest of the day off schedule.