All Quiet on the Western Front

Marley is in bed and as the title to this post suggests, it is quiet here in our little corner of the West Coast. I haven't done a family update in quite some time. Due to the hour (9 p.m.,) jet lag from 8 days in Kentucky and the fact that there is not a cohesive thought in my brain right now, I'm just going to go with the bullet points tonight.

• Here are some pictures of the first ponytail Marley did by herself. She'd been wanting to practice and I think she did a pretty good job.

• Kentucky was great. Here are a few pictures from my trip. The horses are what you can easily find on the road between Louisville and Lexington. Just pull over to the side of the road and take a picture with a horse in the background. Easy as pie. Also included are three very silly boys showing off the pajamas their grandma gave them.

• Paul is in Washington, D.C. for some training. He likes going there now because he can get a non-stop flight on Jet Blue. Jet Blue has lots of leg room, Direct TV and a fancy-schmancy in-flight progress screen. Add his portable XM radio receiver and he is in business travel heaven.
• Flame Broiler carries brown rice now! Yippee! After the joy of my colonoscopy, Paul and I decided to cut out white flour and rice from our diet. This is a major sacrifice sometimes, Flame Broiler being one of them. Tonight, I had the pleasure of a chicken bowl, all white meat, no onions AND brown rice. That is a practically guilt-free meal.
• Marley is going to join the Brownies. She went to a meeting to check it out today and loved it. We'll go in the next couple of weeks to get her vest and other uniform bits.
• Colin is the same but taller. I haven't coerced him into standing up at the measuring wall yet, but I think he is almost as tall as I am. Yikes. He is reading a book called, In Search of Captain Zero. Um... that is about it.
• I'm leaning towards starting the MS in Education/Reading program in the Fall. They'd like me to start in the Spring but I think I'd like to sort out some money issues first. You never know.

Guess that is it for now. I'm sure I'll be checking in while Paul is gone to attempt to elicit some pity for my poor, pitiful soul. Don't buy it, though. Just tell me to get over it.

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All Quiet on the Western Front
Released in 1930
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Starring Lew Ayres

This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality.