bowling for columbine

ok ... i'm years late getting around to watching this one, but i finally got
to see it last night. not what i expected. i think i was expecting some
liberal theories about the evils of guns. very surprised to learn michael
moore is a lifetime member of the NRA. Parts of it were very good.

it was interesting to see him go after the standard responses that gun
violence in the US is due to our historical connection to violence or our
obsession with guns or violent music/videos/games.

i was a bit disappointed with some of his stats, though. can you fairly
compare the number of gun homicides in the US with the number of gun
homicides in japan or britain? how do our number of gun homicides per
person compare to these countries? how about homicides in general? (do
murderers in other countries have a different weapon of choice?)

the interviews with matt stone and marilyn manson were interesting - two of
the most well-spoken interviewees in the film. most fascinating because
they come across well-spoken and very intelligent instead of the
goofy/creepy public personas they have developed for the media and
self-promotion. i especially loved manson's response to moore's question
'what would you say to the victims of columbine?' 'nothing. i would listen
to what they had to say.' manson is right - there is more to be learned
from listening to their experience than in randomly apologizing or lecturing
or any other approach that was taken. i was disappointed that moore didn't
seem to take this to heart and spend more time letting those kids tell their
stories. when he did present them on film, they were responding to very
direct questions from him.

but what was moore's central theory? it seemed to be the fear that
americans live with causes stress that is only relieved at times by snapping
and picking up a gun - especially when comparing americans to canadians.
and i think he has a point there - we are constantly bombarded with negative
messages - the hidden dangers, beware, beware. but then he seemed to stray
towards the (expected) liberal stance that we need to take care of everybody
like canada does (completely missing the socio-economic issues that
canadians face. for example, he supported their public healthcare system
and glossed over the many issues it has - most people who can afford to come
to the US for medical treatment does.)

and then the tangent against Kmart with the kids from columbine. how does
that tie in with his point of fear?

or the 'attack' on charlton heston. ya, it wasn't really great of him to
insist on holding a rally in littleton shortly after columbine ... nor in
michigan after the little girl was killed. those appearances probably did
more to hurt the NRA's position than help it. i understand the desire to
speak up at those times and remind people of all of the responsible gun
owners and the laws in place and that these kids were breaking the law
before they ever opened fire. give some balance to the gun debate, but some
respect should have been shown. and still ... how does it support moore's
thesis in this film?

i guess i'm still lost on exactly what his thesis was ... overall, the film
was interesting ... but seemed to lack focus on what moore's point is.

-s
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EMC²
where information lives

phone: (508) 898-7579
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A communist is like a crocodile: when it opens its mouth you cannot tell
whether it is trying to smile or preparing to eat you up. - Sir Winston
Leonard Spencer Churchill

boys suck and are stupid

ok ... time to look at the dating scene again so i'm braving online dating again. and who do i hear from? mostly ex's. what gives? especially the one that emailed me last week.

i was crazy about him. the chemistry was amazing. we had a lot in common ... and some good differences. we had fun together. and that CHEMISTRY ... wow. but he decided he didn't have time for me (aka, he just wasn't that in to me).

i was the stupid girl and pined for him for months (ok ... to some degree still am ... did i mention the chemistry???) and left him lots of opportunities to stop being a stupid boy. we emailed a few times over the summer. he claimed to still miss me ... but didn't have time to do anything about it. (STILL not that into me.)

i came to my senses (sort of) during my trip to italy. i came back and avoided contacting him again. the only logical thing to do because that chemistry thing was (is) still effecting me.

so i'm trying to move on with my life and find that chemistry with someone who is willing to make the time for me. i get into an IM conversation with a girlfriend about chemistry last week and she tells me i should try contacting him again. i go thru all of the reasons why i'm not going to - that it's up to him to step up this time but he wouldn't and that's that. then i get an email from him. WTF????

i'm sent reeling. tray brings me wine and a pint of ben & jerry's. tam helps me compose a reply. casual. leaving the ball in his court. he's not shut out, but he needs to step up and explain himself. he doesn't. i call him on it - what's with the email? if it's just chit-chat ... go away and leave me alone, i'm done with the game.

it's been almost a week and nothing from him. of course he's on my mind again 24/7 (it had been down to 12/7 ... i was making progress!). so ... why? why did he email me? last he knew i still wanted to see if the chemistry was still there in person. what was the point in initiating contact with me again? after 2 months? with our favorite holiday (halloween) coming up?

why i hate flowers

i really *love* flowers. but 90% of the time i get flowers ... it means someone really screwed up. occasionally i get flowers (that i don't buy!) for celebration or because someone is thinking of me and i *love* that. but most of the time it means someone really screwed up and i'm mad/upset.

when you have done something that upsets me, do not buy me flowers. here's what happens. you do something stupid. i get upset. you buy flowers as a gesture of goodwill or some other nonsense. you're basically trying to kiss up to me and make me forget you did something stupid. but flowers (or any other gift at this moment) does the exact opposite. everytime i look at those flowers i'm reminded that you did something stupid. but it's now compounded by the fact that you're also trying to get out of the fallout of what ever stupid thing you did. so now i'm looking at these beautiful flowers and just getting more upset. flowers are bad.

when you do something stupid that upsets me, apologize. immediately. sincerely. then step back and let me be upset. because you did something stupid and i'm going to be upset. i'm not going to be upset forever. and if you've made a sincere apology and taken steps to correct whatever stupid thing you did and not try to avoid me being upset, i'll calm down and forgive and forget sooner rather than later.

whatever you do ... do *not* try to 'do something nice' for me at this point. do something nice for me because you want to. not because you did something stupid and are trying to make up for it. doing something nice now is just going to irritate me more.

the things we do for kids ...

i'm not a fan of the creepy crawly critters that go 'bump' in the night - you know ... spiders, bats, snakes. but you don't really have the luxury of avoiding them all the time - especially as a mommy. as a mommy to a little boy. for whatever reasons, kids (especially boys it seems!) are fascinated with these critters. and you try to do your mommy-best and not push your fears on your child.

so ... i did a nice mommy thing last night and took rj to the southwick zoo for the haunted train ride. we did it last year and had fun so i was looking to make it an annual outing. (i may try to find a different haunted ride next year ... really was pretty boring this year - couldn't even make my 3 year old get spooked.) after freezing in line for an hour for a 15 minute train ride (yes, i paid $21 for this priviledge) we were heading back to the car. to exit, you're routed through the gift shop. in the gift shop was a very large burmese python. uncaged. so you could have your picture taken with him. yeay.

now rj is usually afraid of snakes - wouldn't go in his back yard at one point this summer because there might be a snake. but is he afraid of the 100 pound monster that could crush him? of course not. he's fascinated. wants to touch it. wants MOMMY to touch it. mommy is having enough issues standing near the snake. but to deflect the question, i ask him if he wants our picture taken with the snake. he's all excited and we get ready and pose. then the handler decides one of us needs to hold the snake's head so it stays in the picture. of course rj can't hold the head firm enough so mommy has to do it.

the picture came out nice enough - even seem to have a smile on my face. if i ever get my scanner working again i'll post it. ah ... the things we do for our kids.