suziebeezieland

some pretty twenty-twelve calendars

My favorite calendar is the Erin Condren 2012 Jumbo Calendar, which I buy every year. It has big squares to write in and is colorful and cute and works well for me. It hangs on the side of my fridge and I will show you this year's version later. I can't get up now to take a picture because Hannah the Cat is sleeping on my legs.

I also like to pin a couple decorative (the pretty flat kind you don't write on) calendars elsewhere around the house. I figure even though I never wear a watch, I have some kind of ethical obligation in life to at least know what day it is.

Here are some lovely options. I love that letterpress is accessible and no longer limited to Crane & Co.

Satsuma Press 2012 Calendar

 

Susy Jack 2012 Wall Calendar

Shop Katherine Watson Limited Edition Letterpress Calendar

 

Green Chair Press 2012 Desktop Calendar (this one has sweet haiku on each month)

 

Snow and Graham 2012 Desk Calendar

 

Rifle Paper Company 2012 Garden Calendar Print

 

Rifle Paper Company 2012 Fruit Calendar 
(The fruit part of these pages would be so pretty framed in a kitchen after the calendar was extinct.)

 Now I have to stop because Hannah has moved up and it is getting difficult to type.

the "it's a small world" app

Disney has released an It's a Small World book app for iPhone and iPad that is completely enchanting.

Some little kids with really cute voices narrate it, and the interface is fun.

It's all very sweet and simple and I know it is designed for little kids, but I keep playing with it. :) 

It costs $3.99 in iTunes.

merry christmas!

In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him.
(1 John 4:9)

mary's song by luci shaw

Blue homespun and the bend of my breast
keep warm this small hot naked star
fallen to my arms. (Rest ...
you who have had so far
to come.) Now nearness satisfies
the body of God sweetly. Quiet he lies
whose vigour hurled
a universe. He sleeps
whose eyelids have not closed before.
His breath (so slight it seems
no breath at all) once ruffled the dark deeps
to sprout a world.
Charmed by dove's voices, the whisper of straw,
he dreams,
hearing no music from his other spheres.
Breath, mouth, ears, eyes
he is curtailed
who overflowed all skies,
all years.
Older than eternity, now he
is new. Now native to earth as I am, nailed
to my poor planet, caught that I might be free,
blind in my womb to know my darkness ended,
brought to this birth
for me to be new-born,
and for him to see me mended
I must see him torn.

what child is this?

Tonight during our Christmas singing and prayer time at church, our friend Donny reminded us that there is no fourth member of the trinity during Christmastime! Baby Jesus is THE Jesus ... one and the same!

And this morning during church, Stephen reminded us of the same thing ... Baby Jesus is the same Son spoken of in the following verses:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4 ESV)

As He lay in that manger, He was still the Heir of All Things, and was still upholding the universe by the word of His power. 

Rejoice this Christmas season that this, this is Christ the King.

:)

saturday morning, christmastime

a closeup

Some of you asked for a closeup.

This was taken on that red carpet I was showing you, by a photographer who was allowed on the other side of the fancy people barrier.

Our BFFs Gary and Colin looked like this, but without any writing on top of them.

the los angeles premiere of tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

You know I'm a big John LeCarre fan. :) I think he is a brilliant writer. My favorite book of his (and one of my top five favorite novels) is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

So a couple weeks ago, I entered a contest on the Fandango blog to win two free tickets to the Los Angeles premiere of the new Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy movie.

And I won! I was shocked. :) It was last night, and my sister and I went. Oh my goodness, we had so much fun. We just kept giggling the entire time.

(But not during the movie. We were quiet during the movie.) 

Five days ago, we were sitting out here in the suburbs without any power, listening to the food inside our freezer thawing, and tonight, a Hollywood premiere. Whoo, that's a lot of commotion in one week for two stay-at-home moms! :)

My pictures are quick, poor, very blurry iPhone shots taken while things zoomed by, but here they are.

The Sunset Boulevard exit off the freeway

The famous corner of Sunset and Vine. Why is it famous? I am not sure. Speak up if you know why it's famous.

Amoeba Records, the biggest independent music store in the world.

The Cinerama Dome, where the movie was premiering.

George Smiley (as played by Gary Oldman) and Suzie (as played by Suzie)

The Red Carpet out front, as viewed from behind the "don't cross if you're not famous" tape :D

The Red Carpet out front, as viewed from inside the lobby

David Dencik, who plays Toby Esterhase in the movie

The back of Mark Strong's head. He plays Jim Prideaux (my favorite character in the book besides George Smiley) in the movie.

Robyn Slovo, the producer. She had really cute shoes. I almost walked between her and a photographer taking her picture. I came to a screeching halt not to do so. It was so funny. :)

Our exciting free popcorn and drinks!

After we went into the theater and were seated and waited awhile, the director, Tomas Alfredson, came onstage and thanked some people and sang happy birthday to somebody in Swedish (it was really cute). Then some of the actors came onstage with him, including Colin Firth and Gary Oldman. Whoo hoo! 

They both look great.

Did I like the movie? Well, yes and no. :) Mostly yes.

Here are the things I liked very much: The casting and acting are brilliant, the plot has been compressed into two hours very nicely (smart screenplay), some of the changes to the plot are refreshing and give it a nice new twist, the cinematography and atmosphere is perfect, the attention to detail is really fun, and the music score is perfect. I was so worried that Gary Oldman would not be a good George Smiley, because I have the George Smiley in my head from the book (whom I like the best) and then Alec Guinness as George Smiley from the mini-series (whom I am also very fond of), and I feel oddly proprietary about George Smiley, as if John LeCarre wrote him just for me and my dad. :) But Gary Oldman did a great job. They all did. Superb acting.

Here are the things I did not like: It is rated "R" and has a lot of junk in it that wasn't in the book and is not needed.

For instance, I understand, artistically, why the director went with the few short, shocking, very graphic bits of violence -- the movie is European in actuality and also in its sensibilities, very quiet in parts, and full of dialogue and thinking and people looking out windows (which I love, all of it), and the gore keeps the Cold War plotline from feeling like a game of chess. There were real, horrible consequences in this story. But LeCarre was able to convey that in the book without being explicit (ditto with the mini-series) so I still object, even though I can understand what the director was going for. It is a very visually stunning movie -- gray and brown and smoky and spy-like.

I have become largely desensitized to movie violence over the years, and this bothers me about myself, and I want to resensitize myself. I really think movie and t.v. people will just keep making things more and more shocking as audiences become blase, and I don't like where that is headed at all. So to be honest, I don't really go to "R" movies, with few exceptions, and sometimes I cover my eyes in the theater. It is working. I am becoming shockable again. I know this will sound nutters or very quaint to some of you, but I don't care. :) We change in different ways as we grow up, all of us. 

But I liked this movie. It was very well done, and I am just so happy that some other people loved LeCarre and made this. Just censor yourself as needed, chickies. (The parents' page on IMDB for the movie explains most potentially objectionable content. But there are some plot spoilers, so don't look at it if you consider yourself unshockable.)

I probably won't see it again for awhile, whereas I can watch the mini-series over and over again annually, but I'm very glad we went, and very thankful to Fandango and Focus Features. I will probably write a long letter to the director and a couple of the actors telling them specific things I loved. I'm hoping that they all keep going and make the novel Smiley's People into a movie, too. (It's the third in the Quest for Karla trilogy.)

If you go, and you have time, read the book first, so you know more of what's going on.

I call this video I took "You have to believe me, it's them." :D

The dot on the far left is Gary Oldman. Colin Firth is on his immediate right. If you have the sound on, that's the director speaking.

windstorm

We had a crazy windstorm come through southern California Wednesday night, and our Pasadena area got the brunt of it. So now we're all mostly just waiting for our power to get restored. Our own house did not sustain any damage, but the general area is a mess of toppled trees, and folks have lost cars and houses. :( Mark C. took a lot of interesting photos ... I'll see if he has them somewhere you can view.

I am feeling grateful for God's mercy and my extensive, oft-mocked candle collection :)... we have used every single one!

We also don't have hot water at our house ... something to think about before getting a tankless (electric) hot water heater.

I don't mind telling you that I have interesting Physicist-like hair these days...