Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

My traveling companion is nine years old He is the child of my first marriage But I've reason to believe We both will be received In Graceland......

Little Boy in his bunk at sleep-away camp this week, or what he calls "night camp".  It's a great camp and he's now a returning camper, but it will still be a nail-biter week for me.  Slow down this growing up, please!!!!

After a trip to the park, there's nothing more my kid loves than Lowe's Home Improvement.  From the plants and flowers, to the appliances and paint, all the way to the contractor supplies....he will walk over the entire store looking at and naming items.  Maybe it's the repetition and routine of autism or maybe it's for the same reason that I love the smell of sawdust.....maybe it's just in our blood. Since he's leaving to go to sleep-away camp tomorrow, I wanted to take him wherever he wanted today.  This is what he asked for.  Sometimes I get sad that he's not more interested in more "normal" kid activities, but I also can't help but enjoy watching his simple pleasures.

Since this movie clocks in at just under 3 hours, my hubby and I had to view it over 2 evenings.  And it is very weird and somewhat hard to follow, but also very interesting and entertaining.  E-Roc and I both marveled at some of the elements of imagination contained in it from the technology to the language.  Even E-Roc, who is sometimes picky about his movie choices, said this movie really did have something for everyone.  And it does: action, violence, special effects, engrossing story, well-known actors, and an interwoven plot that you are begging to see through.  It's also the kind of movie that leaves you thinking about it for days afterward.....believe me!

Staring at the sea, staring at the sand......

The movement you need is on your shoulder......

I'd rather live in his world, than live without him in mine.....

Frack, frack, frack!  If you don't know what it means (and, really, you should) you should probably watch this movie. But honestly, this movie doesn't get too much into the science and the actualities of how fracking works so much as how it affects people, towns and the land.  The scariest thing you realize about big business and environmental action is the behind-the-scenes smarminess and pay-offs happening to get it done and keep people only talking happily about it.  There is a twist in this movie that I did not see coming, but the end was pretty predictable.  Overall, a pretty good flick that makes you appreciate the hard-working family farmer just a little bit more all the while considering your own limits and decisions of integrity. 

I'm a psychic and a laywoman, I see love and I like to make it happen.....

"Something wrong? Yeah. It's just too bad you don't know what it is...brother."

I know a lot of people who say they never read the same book twice.  Maybe there's just not enough time, what with all the other unread books out there waiting.  But me, oh no, there's always time to reread favorites!  To me, it's like going back and having a talk with a dear old friend you haven't seen in years.  This is definitely the case as I have been rereading Maeve Binchy's Evening Class this summer.  Oh, how I miss Maeve , who died nearly a year ago.  But luckily, she left me with many wonderful books that I can always go back to.....

Since I managed to bring in all kinds of crazy blog traffic by criticizing Wilco and Bob Dylan, I felt this week's Friday Playlist was the best way to explain myself.  If you will just look at my tags, you will see that I looooove both bands.  And I know that as I fan I can't predict or demand what they will play live, but I can't help but have my own favorites.  So since I already posted my Perfect Wilco setlist a few weeks back, here today I will post my faves by Bob Dylan.  I know most of them are old and not part of the rotation anymore, and that's okay.  But when I think of Bob Dylan and what his legacy means to me, there are the songs I hear in my head...... Subterranean Homesick Blues It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Highway 61 Revisited Hurricane Girl from the North Country (also becoming a favorite of Little Boy.....always a triumph when this happens) It Ain't Me, Babe Lay, Lady, Lay Like a Rolling Stone Shelter from the Storm ...

Why bother having longish hair when you wear it up everyday? And are too annoyed by it to ever wear it down?  My thoughts exactly. 

Sad to hear about the loss of Toshi Seeger, wife of folk legend, Pete Seeger.  They were married for nearly 70 years and worked in partnership as parents to their 3 children and in social justice for all.

Convos with My 2 Year-Old....... Watch one episode and I dare you not be hooked and waiting for the next one.  I don't know what's so funny about a grown man acting like a 2 year-old little girl, but IT IS!!!!!

You're just like a dream......

I have always been a fan of the sweet lil indie film.  These movies tend to be a tad shorter than most and use all the time they have to the fullest to make it the best one and a half hour the viewer can spend.  This is the case with Jeff, Who Lives at Home .  This is a movie that has a lot happening, but seems to move both slow and fast at the same time.  This move worked well for me because I have always been a big believer in signs, intuition and the "everything happens for a reason" philosophy.  This movie opens with Jeff, played expertly by Jason Segal, explaining the plot of the movie Signs and describing its significance and how many times he's seen it.  The simple character breakdown of the movie is too easy: Jeff is the stoner loser who never wants to grow up.  Pat, played by Ed Helms, is the angry middle manager type who's trying to be too big for his britches.  Sharon, their mom played by Susan Sarandon, is the older irritated widowe...

My kid is obsessed with our neighbors' dog, Buddy.  But we don't just call him Buddy, we call him Buddy the Dog.  And we talk about Buddy the Dog all. the. time.  We discuss what Buddy the Dog is doing, what he might be doing, what he has done in the past and his future plans. For example...... Buddy the Dog is sleeping. Go see Buddy the Dog? Buddy the Dog is at work. (huh?) Go see Buddy the Dog? Call Buddy the Dog.  (Makes sounds of dialing phone) Buddy the Dog says "Hi, Andy!  I'm Buddy the Dog!" Buddy the Dog says woof! I'm Buddy the Dog. Go see Buddy the Dog?  Now repeat all of these phrases about 20-30 times per day in the voice of a very happy but very hyperactive 11 year-old boy who really loves this dog. And that's my house.

"Look at me, I'm Becky!  One fruity drink, and I'm blasting Night Ranger!" (E-Roc, making fun of me when he realized I was a fan of Night Ranger on Facebook and have them in my newsfeed.)

Aaaaah, the return of the Friday Playlist!  What is it about girls rocking that just makes me want to roll the windows down and drive all through the summer???? Treat Me Right        Pat Benetar Our Lips Are Sealed      The Go-Gos Take If Off     The Donnas Cherry Bomb     The Runaways   Bad Romance      Lady GaGa Land of Canaan      Indigo Girls  Freedom         Aretha Franklin Loose Lips        Kimya Dawson Kiss Me Deadly        Lita Ford Got to Be Real       Cheryl Lynn I Drove All Night     Cyndi Lauper On the Radio        Donna Summer Borderline          Madonna I Feel Lucky          Mary Chapin-Carpenter Only Girl in the World    ...

I can't believe it took me these many years to read Cold Mountain .  I think I was put off it because of the movie, which I did see when it first came out.  I remember being haunted by the scene in which Natalie Portman has to leave her crying baby on the ground at the demand of the search parties looking for outliers.  I didn't want to read the book after I saw the movie because, frankly, I didn't like it so much.  I'm thinking now that the movie was all wrong because for one its casting was terrible (Nicole Kidman and Jude Law) and it focused too much on the love story.  The book, luckily, focuses more on survival of the Civil War both by the men fighting it and the people trying to live through it.  It really gives you something to think about when you realize so many of the men that were fighting in the war that had no belief in it whatsoever, and if that's the case, how easy it would be to walk away from it.  I also remember at the ti...

Hey!  While you dweebs are over here getting all pissed off about my music posts, go check out this guy's art .  He makes some pretty cool t-shirts and can even custom-design.  Maybe you want one along the lines of "I Hate Becky" or something.  It can be done!

I usually only watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey to make fun of the current scuffling by Teresa and Melissa, but yesterday I happened to catch a very brief and very real moment with Jacqueline Laurita and her son.  I had read and heard that Jacqueline and her family were sharing and revealing their life with a child with autism, and I hoped that it would be real and authentic and not just a cutesy portrait of living with a special needs child.  I was happy to see that this reality was, for once, very real.  Jacqueline's child is still very young and the diagnosis is still very new, so her own struggle with it along with him is very evident. I remember those days. To say it was hard doesn't begin to cover it.  You're reeling.  You're confused.  You're scared.  And if you're like me, you're trying to prove to everyone, including yourself, that you can handle it.  When I look back on those early years......the time before I knew th...

The Atlanta trip turned out to be a good one and not nearly as much of a traffic headache as we anticipated.  (That's all we heard in the days leading up......the ATL traffic is so bad !)  I think our secret was traveling early in the day and staying outside of the downtown area.  It was hot, sure, but we live in North Carolina.....the whole area is hot.....it's summer, people!  Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to indulge in much local flavor like interesting restaurants or shops, but we did really like our hotel and the staff there, Hyatt Place Airport.  Maybe we'll go for another visit sometime and see more of the city, but only if I can be sure not to run into Kim Zolciak Biermann.  She's scary.  We also had fun playing our special Georgia mix on the drive-up......plenty of REM, Indigo Girls, Usher and the like but not nearly enough ATL rap for my hubby.  Guess he'll make the mix next time!