room find #5

As I clean out my old room I will post some of the finds here.

Today we're going to church.

Some back-story: I grew up going to a church in Vienna some 20minutes away. This meant that I didn't really know anyone in my religious education classes. All of these other kids went to school together and knew each other. But no one went to Dogwood with me. I was the lonely Reston kid. This all changed during 8th grade confirmation classes in which Kristin (also a Reston-dweller) and I found each other. We didn't really know each other well at that point, but to just. know. someone. was fantastic enough.

The point of the story is this: No other Reston kids during elementary school, but during middle school there was finally someone I knew from outside of church.

Given all of that, imagine my surprise when I ran across a list of the other kiddos receiving their first communion in 1990:

There are a few other familiar names there (Amy Kneuven, anyone?), but most notably is KRISTIN DELO. And this was back IN 2ND GRADE. We didn't know each other, but oh man, then if we could have just made the connection, weekly Catholic classes for the next SIX YEARS would have been much more tolerable.

And Kristin... always remember to grab, squeeze, pull, twist, and as a last resort, bite.*

*I'll explain that to the rest of you in a later post.
 

room find #4

As I clean out my old room I will post some of the finds here.

Today we're going to review my scientific beginnings.

 Dogwood Elementary School

 MY SCIENCE PROJECT

Title 

Rock Candy

Problem: What I want to find out.  

How to make rock candy crystals.

How I solved my problem: What I did.  

I mixed sugar and water and put food coloring in one glass. I attached a string to a pencil and put the string into the mixture.

My conclusions: What I found out.  

I learned that it takes a long time for crystals to form and that the crystals grew on top of the mixture before they grew on the string.

Brief sketch of project 

[Step-by-step illustrations with taste reviews: "mm"]

--

I was even awarded (er, recognized) (for participating) for my groundbreaking Science Fair project:

--

Now I really want some rock candy. It's so simple!

room find #1 - update

On Saturday, August 6, 2011, in Lake Fairfax Park, I Am A Gerbil came to life.

 "Written by Meghan Housley in 1989. A one-act musical event, Directed and Performed by Benjamin Cushing in association with The Large Shady Tree Theatre Company."(FDK)

Cinematography: Franklin Khamvongsa
Musical performance: Jessica Cushing
Peanut gallery: Laura Benson, Melissa Rosenberg
 

room find #3

As I clean out my old room I will post some of the finds here.

I wish I still got recognized for such things:

Scanning and blogging about random certificates from 1st grade is time used wisely... right?

Would another certificate show up if I knocked a tooth out now?

I do no know what this means.

room find #2

As I clean out my old room I will post some of the finds here.

For this post I'm piecing together the story from the random bits of documentation found in my room and my fallible memory.

I remember in 3rd grade being given the P.R.I.D.E. award. [And no, I have no idea what it stands for.] Here's proof of my grand accomplishment:

I think we also had to write an autobiographical piece to be displayed in conjunction with this supreme honor:

Hi my name is Meghan Housley. I'm 8 1/2 years old. I have been playing the piano for two years. I have been taking lessons from Mr. Leubbering. I'm proud that I have completed three books. I have been playing soccer for five seasons. I usually play wing and in the five seasons I have scored 13 goals. I have four trophies from playing soccer. I play games on Saturdays and sometimes on week days. We always practice on weekdays. I am proud that I am an all star soccer player.

I was obviously proud... er, full of P.R.I.D.E. [What does it mean!?]

The true gem, however, is the draft on the back:

Hi my name is Meghan Housley. I am 8 1/2 years old. I have 4 people in my family my mom, dad, my brother and me. My favorit show is Hey Dude. I like playing the pineo very much and I also like playing soccer. I'am proud that I got three trofes playing soccer.

Now just to figure out where that extra soccer trofe came from...

room find #1

As I clean out my old room I will post some of the finds here.

Today I bring you the highly-requested I Am A Gerbil, circa 1989. It is a fully-illustrated, bound and laminated (so you know it's serious), 8-page book.

I am a gerbil.

I just got into a big big room with all these kids. They made me a new cage. My name is Buster.

These kids use these weird sticks to write with. I think I'm going to like it here.

One night I got out of my cage.

In the morning I got in and they didn't know it. I loved getting out of my cage.

I am strong so I busted out of my cage because I wanted to and I am a boy.

About the Author: I am 7years old. I go to Dogwood. I live in Resten[sic], Va. My birthday is July 2. My favorite animal is a gerbil. I like to learn. I wish I had 1000 dollars.

__

Let's break this down.

Buster's name was apropos as he eventually busted out of his cage. Literary genius right there.

Apparently, the only condition necessary for liking a new home is a bunch of kids with weird stick-like writing implements. Be on the lookout for that next time you're house hunting.

The kids didn't know the gerbil got back in the cage? Sentence fail. I take back the literary genius comment.

Girls can be strong and bust out of cages too! Damn gender stereotyping going strong in the 2nd grade.

I was seriously low-balling that wish for money. I should have added a few more zeros.

MIFF, take 6... that's a wrap

The closing night film was Another Earth.

SEE. IT.

I've liked bits and pieces of the other 5movies I saw, but always found something to critique. But not here. That's not to say that it was perfect - nothing is - but it is just so powerful and beautiful and thought-provoking that there's no comparison (to any of the others I saw).

[And screw RT's relatively low ratings. All of those people are just wrong.]

It's this great combination of science fiction, psychology and reality. Reality, huh? In a science fiction movie? There were a few opportunities where the film could have taken the "expected" path. The direction to which we have become accustomed by watching big Hollywood blockbusters. Where everything is wrapped up in a neat little package and the good guys end up happy despite the odds against them. Not here. One, just as in real life, it's not always easy to unequivocally categorize something as good or bad. Two, things aren't neat. They're a little sloppy. And complicated. And conflicted.

Welcome to real life.

One tenet of the movie was the following:
If you were to meet an exact replica of yourself, what would you say?
 
Think about that. I'd love to hear your answers in the comments below.

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Now consider this:
Don't we talk to ourselves everyday?
Could anything be gained by meeting or talking to a mirror version of the self?

MIFF, take 5 ... and some other stuff

Last night I saw Dabangg.

The lead wasn't the best dancer. It was obvious that there was some lip syncing (the point here being the obviousness of it all, not that it happened). The subtitles were inaccurate or even completely missing at some points (Google translate, anyone?).

Overall, it was ridiculous.

In a completely fantastic kind of way. I'm not trying to say "it's so bad it's good" (e.g., ala Starship Troopers), but that despite its failings it is still good. In a over-the-top kind of way. In a Quentin Tarantino made a Bollywood movie kind of way. I mean, he didn't - at least not this one - but that's the vibe. Numerous stylized fight scenes interspersed with large group singing/dancing numbers. Throw in some family issues and a love story just to give the movie a plot [But who really needs a plot? Give me more fighting! Dancing!] and you have 2hours of Dabangg.

Plus the title is just fun.

--

The film let out at 12am, and as we left the auditorium on campus there was this beautiful (and extremely large) light show outside. And by light show I mean terrifyingly close heat lightening storm. It really was amazing. So we just stood there for at least 15minutes watching it. Every bolt would light up the entire sky in the direction we were looking. The most spectacular ones would include the visible bolts of light traveling horizontally (at least that was the visual signal) from cloud to cloud.

I guess that was the one positive thing about this oppressive "feels like 100+degrees heat" up here in the world of non-conditioned air.

--

And to my parents: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Love you!
 

MIFF, take 4

Today I saw Sarah's Key.

Adapted from the MIFF website:

Based on Tatiana de Rosnay's New York Times best seller, Sarah's Key is the story of an American journalist living in Paris, Julia Jarmond, whose research for an article about the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in 1942 in France ends up turning her own world upside down. In July 1942, Sarah, a ten-year old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door in the middle of the night arresting Jewish families. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard – their secret hiding place – and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released. Nearly seventy years later, Julia stumbles on the terrible secret that the home Sarah's family was forced to leave is about to become her own. As Julia's life becomes entwined with Sarah's heart-breaking story she must tackle the complex issue of how to live with the past and keep moving forward. [...] It’s an unforgettable experience.

The first two-thirds of the film are powerful and moving. Julia is simply the catalyst through which Sarah's (far more significant) story is told. I wouldn't even begin to give it justice by describing it, so I won't. Just know that (this part of the film) is one of the best things I've seen in a long time. [I'm ignoring the fact that I just saw HP 7.2 last week.]

But then we get to the last third of the film in which the focus is transferred to Julia. Not only is her story trivial and practically irrelevant up to this point, but such a dramatic (and perhaps unintentional) re-framing of the film seriously detracts from it's "unforgettableness." And the dialogue in Julia's "time" is pretty laughable (i.e., bad); something that wasn't an issue when we were with Sarah.

Despite this narrative shift, and it's subsequent fail, I highly recommend seeing Sarah's Key. It's one of those movies where you walk away from it not quite knowing what to say. What to think. How to process it all.

By caring for this fictional Sarah, you consider what the thousands of actual "Sarahs" must have gone through.

And that sticks with you.

MIFF, take 3

Today I saw Fordson: Faith - Fasting - Football.

It's an interesting examination of a predominantly Arab-American football team in Dearborn, Michigan (Fordson High School is 98% Arab). As the title implies, it covers the technical challenges of playing football during Ramadan. But, perhaps more interestingly, the impact of 9-11 on this "non-diverse" (as stated in the film) community. According to the 2000 census, 33% (over 32000) of Dearborn is of Arab decent. That's the largest congregation of Arabs anywhere outside of the Middle East. As such, there is obviously a strong Arab (and Muslim) presence. A strong community. A sense of belonging. Of safety. Something that was crushed in 2001 when some people couldn't differentiate between what it means to be a terrorist and what it means to be Arab or Muslim.

And it was at this point in the film that I started to get frustrated and angry. September 11 was a horrible day in our history. Horrible things happened. Things for which there is no justification. And things for which the responsible parties should be held accountable. Despite that, I just can't understand how anyone - even in the wake of tragedy - can attribute the actions of a few extremists to an entire religion and/or ethnicity. I cannot handle that kind of ignorance.

{Stepping off the soap box now.}

So there was the whole religious, cultural, political, social, religious aspect to the film. And then there was football. Yay, football! The film ends with a game against Fordson's cross-town rivals, Dearborn High School (who also has an Arab population, just not as large). It was almost as if we were watching an actual football game. I got really excited. A sign that football season needs to get here!

The end of the film was a little heavy-handed. The message itself is a good one ("we too are Americans"), but as my friend Erin pointed out, it was a bit too much like a Ford truck commercial. One with flashy, over-dramatized shots of the pickup being strong and resilient while it hurtles over boulders and tows airplanes. And, of course, ends with an American flag blowing in the wind. An overly "RAR! AMERICA!" sentiment, if you will.

Though a weak, if not laughable ending, I recommend seeing the film. It's already available to save on Netflix.

Plus: Their mascot is a tractor (Tractor Power!) and there is a Fordson Rap. How can you go wrong?

MIFF, take 2

MIFF is honoring Malcolm McDowell with the Mid-Life Achievement Award. As such, he chose 4films that he wished to screen at the festival and was going to be here for a few days. As a result - whether fair or not - my friends and I have been joking, leading up to the festival, that we should stay away from "the guy from A Clockwork Orange." That dude is messed up.

My friend Lisa is one of the guest services coordinators for the festival. Friday morning Lisa, her husband David, another friend Erin, and I went down to Augusta to catch Harry Potter 7.2. After the movie, a fellow MIFF organizer called Lisa to request that she join her and Malcolm for lunch. In planning her next move, Lisa may have taken our joking to heart a bit too much and turned down the invite (to have lunch with us at Panera... we were 20+ minutes away anyway). However, it turns out that she got "roped" into joining them at the restaurant anyway.

And she loved it.

That lunch turned into an invitation for her and David to join him and some others at his "camp" (odd Maine term for cabin) (not that he owns it, just where he is staying) the following afternoon. Apparently, also awesome.

All of this is a rather long-winded back-story to my decision to see one of McDowell's films today: Assassin of the Tsar. Though we (Lisa, David, and I) got one of the last few seats in the 2nd row (ow, my neck), it was worth it because there was a Q&A with McDowell afterward. He's pretty funny. He was also able to give us some insight as to living and working in the Soviet Union for 3months. Some interesting stuff.

A note about the film: It was all in English but something was "off." The dialogue matched the actors' mouths but it just didn't feel right. Apparently, 2versions of the film were made: 1 in Russian, 1 in English. (McDowell spoke English in both.) Every scene was shot twice, once in Russian, and then once in a sort of broken English (the Russian actors didn't actually speak English, so they were just making the sounds), which was later dubbed over by actual Russian English-speakers. I'm glad he clarified. Otherwise I would have walked away thinking that Russian movie making technology in 1991 was decades behind the rest of the world. To be fair... it probably was.

Also: There is a woman in the film who is approximately 12.3feet tall.

MIFF, take 1

Yesterday ushered in the 14th annual Mane International Film Festival - or MIFF.

(And yes, I know. The acronym is 1letter away from... that other word).

Unfortunately, I'm pretty busy with my impending move and can't commit as much time to the festival as I would like, but I'm excited nonetheless.

Today I saw Darwin, a documentary about an isolated town (if you can even call it that) of 35 in Death Valley. Their closest neighbor is a top-secret military base where weapons are developed. Also: Barker Ranch, the last hideout of Charles Manson and his "family."

As I'm sure you can imagine, it takes a unique person (or group of people) to migrate to such a place.

After the screening there was a Q&A with Taylor Segrest, the writer and co-producer.

Though interesting, the highlight of today's film was the realization that film festival means NO PREVIEWS. Love.

laura b.

I want to create a series of posts in which I highlight my friends. Nothing intense nor too trip-down-memory-lane-ish. Just a quick anecdote that comes to mind when I think of them. 

This time we have Laura. The other Laura. The original L.B. in my life.

It was Christmastime. In high school? College? Perhaps I was in college and Laura was in high school? Really, it could have been anytime between 1999 and 2002.

We were alone at her house and admiring the holiday decorations. Well, not so much admiring them as remarking at the juxtaposition of the standard-shelf-adorning items and the holiday accoutrement. Namely, there was something about a cannon (non-holiday item), a Christmas village, and a Santa figurine that that was larger than the largest house in the village. So you know, a towering 3.5inches tall.

For some unknown reason we began creating a little scenario for the "characters" above, with voices and all. I don't remember the exact storyline, but I believe it somehow involved Santa entering the village Godzilla-style and dominating the cannon. What is important is the following dialogue:

Santa to Cannon: Say my name, bitch.
Cannon to Santa (in wavering, fearful voice; shaking): Santa! Santa!

Oh did we laugh. HARD.

A bit later, one of Laura's friends (Adam T., mayhaps?) came over and we decided to recreate the exchange. Oddly, he did not find it as amusing as us.

Whatever. I'm still laughing.

laura (nee s.) b.

I want to create a series of posts in which I highlight my friends. Nothing intense nor too trip-down-memory-lane-ish. Just a quick anecdote that comes to mind when I think of them. 

I want to start of with my friend Laura.

Also, just to avoid confusion, I have 2close friends with the same initials: L.B. Hell, not even the same initials, but the same first name: Laura. The Laura I am referring to here is from graduate school. The B. is actually a result of her marriage, so I'm also referencing her maiden name as clarification, hence the (nee s.) above. 

That's probably way more explanation than necessary. Sorry about that.

Now, no one else get the same name/initials. kthxbai.

Back in the summer of 2009, Laura, having recently graduated with her masters, was job hunting in the barren wasteland that is Oxford, Ohio as her husband took one final year to finish up his degree. One Friday, during happy hour at 3Trees, Laura and I were sitting across from each other at a large clustering of tables. There were maybe 8people in attendance.

I received a text message and noticed that it was from Laura. With some confusion - I mean, she was sitting right there - I opened the message. It read: I got a job!

I look up to see her smiling at me.

I reciprocate the smile and - still confused - ask aloud, "Is this a secret?" at which point the table's conversation descends on my seemingly random question. [No, it wasn't a secret.]

And thus, the group had something new to which to drink that afternoon.

I don't know why, but I love that she shared her news that way. Bravo, Laura.