Where there's a whip...there's a way.

[vulgarweed]

Hate deadlines. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. Especially early ones. Even when I'm NOT procrastinating, they make me fall behind and feel/look bad.

Gangs of New York is excellent. But there is a special place in hell for people who take fidgety toddlers and squalling babies to extremely violent R-rated movies, and don't remove them from the theater when two- thirds of the audience is hissing and shushing at their little family corner. It's a public place, not your living room; nobody paid 10 bucks to hear your kids shriek and babble, and nobody but you is going to be responsible for their therapy bills later when they have nightmares about Bill the Butcher chopping up the whole family.

Aside from that, Xmas was cool. Also went to excellent Middle-Eastern holiday buffet downtown, with friends. I miss my family, but since they're 800 miles away, there's no need for me to pretend to pay lip service to the dim and vague concept of having a nesting instinct. For a special occasion it's well worth my while to pay someone to cook more (and better) food than I ever could, and to clean up after us, I say.

Cool stuff given: to Mr. Hot-Knuckles, movies: Koyanisqaatsi, Taboo, and In the Realm of the Senses.
books: The Atlas of Middle-Earth, Solaris

cool stuff received: from Mr. Hot-Knuckles, luxurious Frango chocolates, gorgeous silk nightgowns and...Solaris. (Great minds think alike.)

Oh yeah, and for both of us, from me (on sale, couldn't resist): the 1978 Rankin-Bass animated version of The Return of the King. The SONGS, oy, the songs! They're all stuck in my head now--like an ax.

Comments

*Urp* don't blame me...

[labellerose.livejournal.com]

You wrote *But there is a special place in hell for people who take fidgety toddlers and squalling babies to extremely violent R-rated movies, and don't remove them from the theater when two- thirds of the audience is hissing and shushing at their little family corner.*

Although I agree this is annoying, a few words in defense.
I personally don't take my children to movies that are not appropriate to their age/level of development. If they should become upset or frightened (or for that matter start to misbehave), I take them outside. Yes, this does mean that there are movies I don't see until they come out on video/dvd if we can't get away while the movie is playing in a theater. That's part of the responsibility I signed on for when I had children In the larger scheme of things, it's not terribly significant.

That's the way most people who have taken Adulthood 101 operate.
Unfortunately, the few who haven't tend to get in other people's faces and annoy them. Sorry it happened to you.

Re: *Urp* don't blame me...

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Well, that's what I mean. What you're talking about is being responsible: it sounds like you are. I think this parent did two major things "wrong" for lack of a better word...first off, no way is that movie appropriate for young children - it's really brutal and terrifying even for adults! It was a big multiplex, there were plenty of more kid-friendly movies playing that she could have chosen. And the kids did become upset, at least about something, and she didn't take them out.

I do think there needs to be some public space where children really shouldn't be, a place for adults to be adults. Bars, for example, and R-rated movies. If I go see a more "family"-oriented movie, I'm prepared for some kid chatter, I expect it, and it makes sense for them to be there (although if a kid starts loudly crying, it seems like the parent would be being unfair to the child as well as the other paying customers to not at least take him/her out for a few minutes to see what's wrong). But not an extremely adult story like this.