Tomorrow night Shelly and I are headed out to see a very low budget, not very popular movie you most likely haven’t heard a thing about. It’s a little show called New Moon.  I know, who has ever heard of the Twilight Saga, right?  Like the theory of Vampires would ever catch on.  You know, they should really learn how to promote this movie. Might get some more tickets sold.

Huh, I just did a Google search on this flick and I guess a few people do know about it. It appears that EVERY SINGLE TALK SHOW, whether it’s daytime or late night, has had a New Moon cast member on. And Twitter has blown up with talk of this movie.

Fine! So every Tweener and their Tweener little brother has been waiting in line and going ape over this movie.  BUT SHELLY AND I WERE THERE FIRST!!!  We read all the novels BEFORE YOU!  And!  We put it on our calendars before some of these kids, who will be sharing the theater with us, were even born!  So there!  (I am very mature.)

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to iron my Team Edward t-shirt

and affix my “Bite Me Edward” tattoo. Yes, my name is Becky and I’m an almost 40 Twilight Mom. Suck it.

I can’t wait to have my popcorn either!

As a little girl one of my favorite books ever was,”Where The Wild Things Are“.  I can still vividly remember  sitting on my father’s lap, the smell of his sweater and the intonation in his voice as he read, “And they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth…”

While I was pregnant with Ben, I took my old copy of the book for my baby.  And when he was finally at the age where he would listen to the story without trying to eat the pages, I would attempt to recreate the magic my father produced for me.  However, I’m pretty sure I never got it just right.

So when earlier this year I saw they were making the movie, at first I was scared.  How could they replicate this fantastic world?  Would they destroy it?  Ruin it forever?  But as I began to see the trailers I was mesmerized.  It was as if the book came to life.  I wasn’t only one that was shocked and in heaven by these trailers, Ben also couldn’t get enough.  We promised we would see this movie the day it came out.

To be honest I had sort of forgotten that the release date was upon us when my mom called me at work last Thursday and said, “Tomorrow let’s all go to see ‘Where The Wild Things Are’.  Even Dad wants to go!”  So that is how my parents, Ben and I all went together to see this wonderful movie on it’s opening day.

It sounds magical right?  Idyllic in fact.  Yeah, except it wasn’t.  This movie was a great disappointment.  Don’t get me wrong, the costumes were amazing, James Gandolfini was perfect and so was Max.  However, unlike the book, which had what I think is a positive message, this movie was so depressing!  I understand that they needed to expand the story from this 48 page book into a 99 minute movie but why move so far away from the overall message?

I’m being sort of cryptic because I hate movie reviews that give away the whole movie.  I’ll simply say there was such an odd dark, almost bitter feeling about it and there were some parts and even characters that made no sense.  I’m very surprised that the author, Maurice Sendak, not only approved of the movie but has told concerned parents to “to go to hell”.

Perhaps that’s how he intended the book to be too and I’m just a Pollyanna who saw it as upbeat.

Regardless, all four of us left the theater feeling disappointed and Ben even scared.  I definitely would not suggest bringing children younger than 10 to this movie.

So am I in the minority?  Did you see it?  Did you bring your kids? And if so, what did you (they) think?

So I guess this Valentine’s Day wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be.   Therefore I’m sparing the idiot with the arrows in the diaper for another year. 

My VDay weekend began on Friday night as I joined my Movie Night friends for another fun filled evening, complete with great food, lots of wine and of course yet another campy flick.  This time it was none other than our dearly departed Anna Anna Fabulous Anna Nicole.  Because really, nothing says Friday the 13th scary like Anna Nicole Smith.

And I thought Little Britain was uncomfortable and disturbing?  Try watching countless episodes of a former, now very high on some unknown drug, Playmate of the Year and her messed up, enabling friends?!?

Speaking of friends, aren’t we cute?

As you can see, pink was the required uniform of the night.  And so were the drinks.

Saturday morning my stomach hurt from all the laughter.  Or maybe it was the pink wine. 

Anyhoo, when I retrieved Ben from his sleep-over at his loving Grandparents, I noticed in his backpack was a folder full of Valentine’s from his little classmates. 
This would have been fine if I had KNOWN ABOUT THIS VALENTINE PARTY!!!

Last week I asked my sweet darling son, “Hey, are you guys having a Valentine party at school?  Should we get Valentine’s?”  To which he replied, “No I don’t think so.  I haven’t gotten anything from my teacher.”  So I let it go thinking 3rd grade was the time when all this nonsense stopped.

However Saturday morning as I was looking down at my son who was smiling like the cat who ate the canary and I exclaimed, “BENJAMIN RICHARD!  What is all this?!?  You told me there wasn’t a Valentine party this year!  You didn’t give out Valentine’s!  But look how many you got!  And with all this candy!” 

He continued smiling and said, “I know!  Isn’t it great?”

For his punishment I’m making him dress like a Leprechaun for St Patty’s Day.  Complete with green tights, a top hat and basket full of four leaf clovers to hand out to all his classmates.  Let’s see how big his smile is then!

The little twirp so didn’t deserve it, but what can I say, I’m a sucker for this kid so later in the day we headed to Target to get each other Valentine gifts.   He did redeem himself when he picked out Coldplay’s Viva La Vida for me and with as much earnest as a boy who was just busted earlier in the day said, “Mom, I’ll get this for you.  I have enough money.”   Forgetting all about the Valentine debacle, I of course wouldn’t let him pay for it.  But I did make him get me some chocolate. 

Thanks to his Grandparents, his poor classmates and to his loving mother, Ben made out like a little Cupid Bandit.

I swear he got more candy than at Halloween.  Never you mind those Peeps.  Yes they are opened and yes, they were mine.   “Were” being the key word here.

The most romantic day of the year was rounded out by a meal with my folks, lots of Facebook games and watching The Dark Knight with my little Valentine Con-Artist. 

I guess Valentine’s Day is just like any other holiday.  It is what you make it out to be.  Hallmark holiday or not, this one was filled with family, friends and thankfully LOTS of chocolate.

And of course the traditional “Princess” card for this Princess…

Friday night, Tammy and I once again convened at The Boys place for Movie Night #2.   After our inaugural Movie Night of Mommie Dearest, this was going to be hard to top.

But of course, I’m dealing with Joe and Jason.  Therefore not only was ”Mommie Dearest” night beat, this night was OVER the top.

When I first walked into their house, my eyes were gravitationally pulled to this fine specimen.  I took in a sharp intake of breath as I wondered, “What the hell is this thing?!” 
Was it an alien pod?  A very fancy new antenna?  Or was it, perhaps, their Christmas Tree?

Only these two could pull this off. 

When I asked Jason which Christmas tree farm they went to to chop down this beauty, to my surprise he didn’t say Dr. Seuss’s own private stash.  No, he replied with, “eBay.”  Interesting.  Next year perhaps my dad, Ben and I will search out that eBay Tree farm.

At one point, as I was taking a picture of this amazing tree, Joe got a little twinkle in his eye.  “Um Becky?”  he asked, “Since our camera isn’t working, would you mind if Jason and I changed into the outfits we are wearing for a Christmas party tomorrow night and taking our picture?”   As I chuckled I said, “Of course!  Go change.  But you do realize that if you weren’t already gay, this would make you SO gay!”

I must say, they make a very cute, beautiful, happy couple:

Take THAT Prop 8!

What is a movie night without copious amounts of food?  It’s a failure!  So we all brought a little something to share.

I slaved ALL day with my friend Joe to make something just right for my dear friends.  No, not Jason’s Joe.  My Joe.  He’s a Trader.  He’s originally from California but thankfully came to Madison last summer and I have been so happy ever since. 

Anyway, he helped me make all these wonderful little desserts, put them in their own little paper cups and even gave me a great little carrying case for them.   Thanks again Joe!  They were swell.

Because not only was this our Movie Night, it was also a Holiday Celebration, Jason went out of his way and made mulled wine.   From scratch! 

Since it was such a labor of love and did smell wonderful, in one fast motion, I grabbed my mug and took an instant big swig.  And then I immediately set it down.  Where it sat untouched for the rest of the night and perhaps for the rest of my life.  I didn’t care for it.   Which is the very mature way of saying, it was like drinking hot NyQuil.  But really such a sweet gesture. Thanks Jay!

When we could finally stop gabbing enough to concentrate on our movie, we put in Little Britain.  Oh dear God… if you have never seen this show, which is now on HBO, it’s a must see.  Er, although I highly recommend having as much alcohol in your system that is legally allowed and no parental units around.  

It is hilarious but so bizarre and at times very uncomfortable.  There were a couple skits where I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.  And trust me, I’m not normally easily embarrassed. 

All in all it was a great night! 

Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like psychedelic Christmas trees, drinking hot cough syrup and watching really uncomfortable very inappropriate British humor with great friends.

Today, I was on my death bed.   Today the West Black Bird Flu Nile Plague almost took me.   I saw the light out of the corner of my eye.  It might have been the nightlight in the bathroom, but regardless, there was a light.

A few short hours ago, there was an elephant who took permanent residence on my face and chest.  There were razor blades that went down my throat every time I swallowed.

Life, as I knew it was soon to be over.

It’s a good thing I’m a normally very healthy person, because as you can see it’s all about the drama when I’m under the weather.  The wimpiest guy has nothing on me.  Not only do I have a flair for the dramatic, but I’m the type that will literally walk around my apartment wrapped in blankets clutching my Kleenex and muttering to myself,  “Oh my god, I’m so sick.”    Really, it’s a wonder I’m single.

Even though breathing through my nose wasn’t my strong suit, my eyes looked like two piss holes in the snow and I could have flown Santa’s sleigh with my big red nose, I still managed the strength to make it to my hair appointment this afternoon.  W.B.B.F.N.P be damned!  Missing a hair appointment is just something that can’t happen.  Was I bleeding?  No.  Was I ejecting bodily fluids?  Nope.  Then I had no excuse.  Hell hath no furry as changing my appointment with my guy.  I might never make it into the rotation again.   Gasp!  The Horror!

It’s truly a fate worse than having the elephant on my chest never find another home.

Gratefully, I am not going to let this disease take my life.  I am rebounding.  Perhaps it’s the fantastic hair (the face still looks like shit) or the sheer excitement in me to watch Edward and Bella on the silver screen tomorrow night, but I’m happy to say I’m on the road to health. 

Let’s just hope I can get the nose to quit its water works performance so tomorrow I’m not known as Bozo instead of Becky.

Wordless CANNOTWAITFORTHISMOVIE Wednesday

I do realize that the very title of this post will insure that my mother is the ONLY human that I date for a long time.  But Saturday night I did indeed have a date with my mom.

And before you make that “awww” sound and think that I have also started to crochet and got a cat, you should know it was MY idea and we had great time.

It wasn’t just a date with my mom, it was also a date with Madison.  Madison, especially central Madison, is like this happy little nirvana of liberalism.  Like it’s own version of a Richard Scarry book.

Except ours would be called “The Best Liberal Town Ever!”

Complete with the local grocery store being Trader Joe’s and young children helping their parents carry “Obama/Biden” yard signs down the street.

We had dinner at this wonderful Mediterranean restaurant, Dardanelles, where the owner, Barbara, is very involved in politics in Madison.  And, ah, that’s putting it mildly.  Not only does she have a large “Obama ‘08″ sign on the front door of the restaurant but my mom said she has also been known to send petitions around the dining room to impeach Bush and Cheney.   Yeah, I have a woman crush on Barb.

After dinner we decided to stroll down to the Obama Headquarters, which since this is Happy Liberal Town, is just a block away.   Even though it was a Saturday night, the place was buzzing.  My mom and I signed ourselves up for duty and promised to come back in this week.  And trust me, just being in there charged us up so much that we WILL be back.  My mom even promised to make phone calls!  Which isn’t one of her strongest suits as she proved during the Kerry campaign of 2004.  But I think if there was ever a Presidential Candidate she could concur her fears of talking to random people on the phone for, it would be Obama.

Oh, but the night didn’t end there.  No sir!  Then it was time to get in our Happy Little Subaru and go to Sundance (the one in Madison, not Utah) to see the biggest chick flick and cheesiest film known to man.   Nights In Rodanthe.  (Warning: even this website I linked might make you gag.)

I knew we were in for it when the opening credits said this film was based on the book by Nicholas Sparks.  But dammit, if both my mom and I, in spite of ourselves, didn’t bawl our eyes out.  There is just something about Richard Gere that can bring a woman to her knees.  And don’t even get me started about how cute Diane Lane is.  As we were walking to the car with red puffy eyes and dribbling noses, we were laughing about what a cheesy movie that was and why the hell were we crying!!!

In the car on the way home I said, “Thanks for a great date Mommy!”

To which she replied, “I AM a good date huh?  I pay for everything and won’t even make you come inside for a nightcap.” 
“And you even provide free babysitting thanks to your husband.  Wow, this is the best date ever!!”

I guess it’s a good thing that if I am going to be a spinster for the rest of my life, I have someone who is fun to play with and won’t break up with me.  She can’t.  It’s a biological law.

So Mom, whatcha doin’ next Saturday night?

What did you do Friday night?

Me?  Oh, not much… I just hung out with my two best boyfriends and watched THIS:

If you haven’t had a Mommie Dearest party with some of your favorite people, you haven’t truly lived.

Yes sir, we did it up right.  No messin’ around here.  We had the cold cream, the wire hangers and of course some cocktails.  Because how can you celebrate the fantastic-ness that IS Mommie Dearest without some drinks?  After all, she was drunk through most of the movie.

We started planning this gala night on Tuesday and I pretty much laughed about it for the rest of the week.

Friday night finally arrived, and happily our friend Tammy decided to join the mayhem.  We all brought snacks which turned into quite a feast.  The spread of food was just as amazing as the Sangria that flowed. 

As the first creepy sign of Joan Crawford’s red lips displayed on the screen, I reminded my follow watchers that MY MOTHER had taken nine year old Becky to see this movie when it first came out.  Such a suitable age to be taken to a movie about child abuse; don’t you think?  I vividly remember chewing watermelon bubblegum during the movie.  Therefore, to this day, I can not chew watermelon gum without remembering the creepy cold cream faced Joan beating Christina with the WIRE HANGERS!!!

YOU try getting over that image when you are only 9!  Nightmares?  Just a few…

Maybe it was the cheesiness of this 1981 movie.  Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was just the company but we all started commenting on the movie like we were in Mystery Science Theater 3000. 

“I think that no one truly understands Joan.  Certainly not that Baaaastard Mayer.  Poor Joan.  She is DAMN mad and she deserves to be.  She IS Hollywood Royalty after all.”
“You know Tina, seriously, get over it already.  At least you were wearing pajamas when the wire hangers hit your back.  Could have been worse…”
“Look at J.C. garden!  That tree deserved to go.  So ugly.  And how nice of her to involve the children in the middle of the night.”

If anyone can PLEASE tell us why Christopher was strapped into his bed at night, you will be invited over for the next movie night.  The specific movie has yet to be determined.  It will be something between “Roots” (Joe’s idea) “Steel Magnolia’s” (also Joe’s idea) or “Brit TV” (Jason and Tammy’s idea).   Anything works for me.  Hell, I’m just along for the ride.  And the food.

When I picked up Ben that night from my parent’s house, the first thing I said as I walked in the door was, “Mom!  How could you take me to see that movie!?!?  What were you thinking?!” 
She laughed and said “Oh honey. I’m so sorry.  In those days we just went to the movies without really knowing what the movie was about.  I just knew it was about Joan Crawford’s life and I liked her as a kid. Honestly, I had no idea.”

I do feel bad for my mom because even as Ben and I were getting into the car, my mom called out, “I’m really sorry about the movie!!” 
To which I replied, in my best Christina imitation,  ”Oh, it’s alright Mommie Dearest!”

Yeah.  I creeped myself out.