In tribute to The Hunger Games...

I know I've been missing in action for about three weeks, but I was blinded by beautiful weather!  It was in the record breaking 80s here and Tom Thumb and I were off frolicking in the sun in our backyard for hours everyday.  We even filled the sandboxes!  Who has time to think about what to write on their blog when the summer is calling your name early?  Not me.


Now for my triumphant return.  It's deep.  It's profound.  It's....my nails.  That's right.  In tribute to the opening of The Hunger Games movie over the weekend, I painted all my nails grey for District 12 (Coal) with flames as a nod to my girl on fire Katniss Everdeen.  The Cobbler and I went out Saturday night to see The Hunger Games and the movie didn't disappoint, however, the audience did.  Maybe I'm going old lady at 35, but I was stunned by the rowdy behavior and the use of cell phones during the movie.  First of all, the ushers actually had to escort some people out during the scene when Katniss is singing to Rue.  Are you serious?  The most emotional scene in the movie is happening and people are laughing and talking so loudly somebody down below us shouted, "Will you guys JUST SHUT UP!"  Then, there were at least a dozen people in the seats in front of us with their cell phone screens lit up who were texting throughout the movie.  Not to mention (spoiler alert!), about 3/4 of the theater applauded when Thresh killed Clove at the cornucopia.  Yes, she was a villain, but to applaud when a kid gets killed?  Really?


I felt very disturbed.  In The Hunger Games, the people of the Capitol have such a need to be entertained that watching children killing each other is fun for them.  It seemed twisted to me that both teenagers and adults (there were some chaperones down there texting away too) can't shut off their phones for two hours and just watch a movie.  Have we reached a point where we must be entertained at all times?  How far away are we from our society becoming like the Capitol?  It spoke to me as a parent and makes me more determined than ever to try to preserve my children's childhood and keep technology to a minimum for now.  


As far as the movie itself goes, you must go see it if you read the book.  I'm still debating if I would have liked the movie better going into it blind.  When you know everything that's going to happen, it changes how you watch it.  I thought Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss wonderfully, I loved Lenny Kravitz and Elizabeth Banks as Cinna and Effie, and I was not as offended by Woody Harrelson as Haymitch as I thought I would be.  Even though he didn't look how I thought Haymitch should, I thought he was spot on character wise.  The special effects were amazing, the muttations were even better than in the book, and I loved the extra bits with Seneca Crane running the game from his control room.  I adored the costuming so much I wanted to applaud.  Granted the Avox story and the lamb stew were absent, but I didn't think anything major was lacking in the story.  I think they did what they could with 2 hours and 22 minutes.  I'm looking forward to Catching Fire, but maybe I'll find a different theater or wait for the DVD.


In reading news, I wrapped up reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  This was my second time reading it.  I read it in high school, but I was surprised about how much adult themed material there was that I did not pick up on as a 15 year old reader.  I found Sissy's antics to be much more amusing, and I finally figured out what she had in that mysterious box!  Ha ha!  I guess I should be glad that I was such an innocent and naive high school student.


In kid news, math has finally come together for Red.  Around three weeks ago (coincidentally, about the last time I blogged), things clicked and she suddenly could add and subtract single digit numbers with ease.  What a relief!  We're nearly finished with Singapore 1A and will probably be moving on to 1B in the next couple of weeks.  And after much deliberation, it looks like another session of Mommy Camp will be coming soon!  I was planning on enrolling both kids in a two week science day camp that Red attended two years ago, but she told me that she'd rather do Mommy Camp instead!  Yay---my kids want to spend time with me!  It's time to start planning our activities so I'll post a loose schedule in the next couple of weeks.  If you're interested in seeing what we did last summer, you can click on the Mommy Camp link on the right side of the screen under Labels.


Have a great week and may the odds be ever in your favor!