1. Adventures in cooking continue apace. I bought some vegetarian fake sausages at the co-op yesterday, and made a chipotle-bean-tomato thingy that was REALLY good. And, even using pre-made fake meats, it is still lower in salt than, say, an egg cheese mcmuffin. The bread I make for myself is lower in salt than commercial bread. The beans I make for myself are lower in salt than commercial beans. If I could make cheese, I bet it would be lower in salt than the cheese from the store.
2. M is afraid of tornadoes. To deal with this he watches endless episodes of the tv show Stormchasers.
If we give nothing else to our son, we have given him the idea that the answer to fear is knowledge. However scary reality is — and tornadoes are plenty scary — it is less scary than wondering in ignorance. Everybody knows that the feeling you get when you finally see the monster in the movie is relief, not greater terror.
3. I rewatched the classic Doctor Who story “The Happiness Patrol” this week. There’s something odd in that story, something about the performance of femininity. The actual members of the Happiness Patrol are almost all women, and are attired in exaggerated — even for the 1980s — makeup and hair. Femininity as performance, as statement. And at the same time, compliance and fake smiles and getting along with others are the rewarded behaviors. Expressions of anger, or fear, or resentment are punished.
The whole thing smacks as a metaphor for a woman or child living with an abuser. In some ways. I’m not saying that’s what the writers meant, and the metaphor is not perfect. But there is some serious creepiness under all the pink and glitter.
Filed under: Autobiography, MoviesTV, Parenting | Tagged: cooking, doctor who | 4 Comments »
