Playtime
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Saturday, April 30th, 2005[picture removed]
When the sun shines, I set the children to work ‘invisible painting’. No prizes for guessing what mummy was doing while they were quietly busy. Ah yes, at moments like these, life is GOOD.
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Posted in Playtime
Lost in Translation: A letter to Sofia Coppola
Friday, April 22nd, 2005Dear Miss Coppola
I finally saw your film ‘Lost in Translation’ last night. It took me over a year to get around to it, but I have to say it was entirely worth the wait.
I feared that it would not live up to the hype, but as I knew nothing of its premise I could not form an idea in my own mind, before seeing it, of how good or otherwise your film might be. I tend to do that, although I wish I didn’t.
Anyway, your film was wonderful. Humorous and touching, your film is not in any way a love story, it is something both more and less than that. It contains that element of yearning that any good love story needs, but instead the yearning is for connectedness in a world where we are so connectable but which can leave us feeling so disconnected.
Dislocated people: they’re an unknown quantity, aren’t they? Especially when they can’t sleep. I can especially relate to that part, even though I am not dislocated and disorientated in quite the same way as your main characters, Bob and Charlotte. I have two main characters called Harry and William who have dislocated and disorientated me from my own life but in an entirely different way. However that’s another story and I can tell you now that it wouldn’t make for nearly such an interesting film.
Anyway, you can be sure that if I had to spend a week in an hotel, I wouldn’t waste it by staying awake. Not for a minute.
However I could still appreciate the isolation and sense of dislocation felt by your two protagonists. To have a partnership with someone who doesn’t really listen to you, who doesn’t listen to who you are or to what you need is miserable at best, devastating at worst. To be caught in limbo in a place where all the cultural markers are different as well simply adds to the sense of displacement.
I’ve been trying to think why I feel so affected by your film. ‘Lost in Translation’ is beautiful, poignant and humorous but, more than that, I think it might be simply that there are so few films that I feel I really want to sit through anymore. Time feels so precious to me these days and I have learnt to fill it only with things that enrich my life. Your film has done that even though I can’t say quite how.
Yours
Ella M
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Posted in Blog Book Tours, Reviews, Playtime
This one’s not about the children
Thursday, April 14th, 2005A constant thought in the back of my blogging mind is that one day I might be able to write about something other than my banal life as a mother and housewife. And then I think to myself, when will that day be?
Today, I write with glee. Today.
My mother took the children to the park this morning and I sat down with a cup of coffee and, in my unusually peaceful house, I watched an episode of “House Doctor”. Then I looked at our sitting room which looks like we have just moved in, even though we have been here for a while now. I moved the sofas round. I thought about where I might find some art to put on the walls. I imagined I was Ann Maurice. I had a lovely time.
Note to self: must get out more.
I moan about not having any quality time for myself. Then I get a moment of freedom and I spend it watching House Doctor, rearranging furniture and then blogging about it.
After a bit the children came home. My thoughts about the sitting room will have to wait until the next time I have the house to myself. When that time comes you can be sure I’ll blog about it.
There. I bet you wish I was writing about children.
Note to self: must be more interesting.
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Posted in Playtime
Star charts bring reward
Saturday, April 9th, 2005Matthew has been a star today. He got back pretty late from Musikmesse Frankfurt yesterday and we had a terrible night as I was up no less than nine times, a record I think, with the boys. Eldest Son woke twice thinking he might be sick - cue desperate bleary-eyed thoughts about what to shove under his chin in case he was sick, coming up only with his pillow which I figure is better than vomiting all over the bed - and Second Son woke seven or so times with chronic teething. He has been teething for about three weeks now, with no sign of the impending teeth. They are, I suppose, growing under the gum and God he is miserable. Dribbly, desperate for relief and utterly miserable. I wish there was more I could do for him. When he wakes screaming in pain I stroke his head from the mattress on the floor next to his cot where I took up residence last night. If I start drifting off before he falls asleep I feel him nudging my hand with his head like a dog wanting to be stroked.
Actually, I think I might wake during the night if I thought there was someone there to stroke my head on request.
After such an awful night there was no debate whether I would be off-duty this morning (first gold star), so I went back to bed and slept three hours through two excitable, screaming children and four hyper, barking dogs (we are dogsitting two dogs this weekend) and the six of them can make quite a din.
I heard nothing.
Matthew brought me a cup of tea and my laptop (second gold star) - although I slept until the tea was cold and there was no time to use the laptop - and he looked after the children all morning (third gold star). I had already ‘reserved’ time off this afternoon so that I could watch the royal wedding (fourth gold star) on the understanding that he could watch the Masters (yawn), he cooked supper (fifth gold star) and is now putting the boys to bed (sixth gold star) while I do an on-line grocery order (which I will be doing in a minute, I promise, right after I have done just a minute or two of blogging).
In all the parenting manuals it says that after a set number of stars the recipient should be given a reward for his efforts. Hmm, I wonder what reward I should give him….
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Posted in Parenting, Playtime
Musikmesse
Thursday, April 7th, 2005I’m so jealous.
Hubby has flown off to Musikmesse Frankfurt, the Frankfurt Music Festival. It is the biggest international trade show for the musical instruments industry and I WANT TO BE THERE.
Not only that, but Matthew neglected to mention the Musikmesse Happy Hour in the festival marquee every evening. I KNEW he wasn’t interested in going for the music.
So now the children are in bed I’m going to open Ella Happy Hour in my household.
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Posted in Playtime
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