Concentration... Playing the new game.

Changes in the weather - some thunderstorms rolled in last night and more are expected today. I made the mistake of watching Storm Stories last night before I headed to yoga class. I'm surprised I didn't have any tornado dreams last night (or during yoga).

I have a couple more movies from the library that I might start at lunch today. Actually, I think I'll start on the Desperate Housewives first season DVD. That sounds like a good lunchtime activity. My other choice is The Godfather. That seems more like a Saturday night activity. Can you believe I've never seen it? Jenna told me that it was required, and I agree.

For Sam I got Howl's Moving Castle. We haven't started it yet. Sometimes when I suggest a movie, he won't want to watch it but if I just put it in and start watching it, he'll end up liking it (like School of Rock, Spirited Away, The Princess Bride, and Pee Wee's Big Adventure).

I believe Howl's Moving Castle is from the same director who did Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service. They're considered anime, but they're OK for kids. I really loved Spirited Away. The animation was really complex and interesting. The story is really weird and I'm not really sure what is happening in some parts, but it's so original that the weirdness seems cool.

I kept trying to point out to Sam how much better the animation is compared to Pokemon. I know some parents object to Pokemon because it's tied to toys and it's teaching kids how to be consumers and all that. But I object to it solely on artistic grounds. It just sucks. The animation sucks. The dialogue sucks. The stories are stupid. The characters are one-dimensional... I could go on.

But then, he is only 8 (soon to be 9!), so I can't really expect him to have mature tastes. For example, I was really surprised when I saw an old Scooby Doo episode and noticed how bad it was. I loved Scooby Doo. And I was even more surprised when I saw a Josie and the Pussycats cartoon and realized that they had used the same voices from Scooby Doo! I had never noticed that as a kid.

So I guess I need to lighten up. Man, that's true on so many levels...