7 qt {7 Quick Takes}

Here's my link-up to Jennifer Fulwiler's 7 Quick Takes:

1.  Dancing Cinderella Demons

 It's madness...March Madness and my Alma mater, Northwestern State University, which is located in picturesque Natchitoches, Louisiana (as seen in Steel Magnolias), made it to the Big Dance. They are one of the Cinderella teams at the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament. I'm so proud of what this coach and team have accomplished, even though they lost tonight to Florida. They represented our school well, though.

Our mascot is Demons, specifically Vic the Demon. It's pretty ironic since the university is located in one very conservative town in the Bible Belt! So, job well done and Fork 'Em Demons (spell-check about a million times).   

Here's an article about my small, but excellent Alma mater:

http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/fandom/post/_/id/19816/cinderella-stories-northwestern-state-u

2. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My oldest wanted to see the movie adaptation after she finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.   We rented the Tim Burton film and I was finally able to see this version.   Our fourth grade teacher read the book aloud to us, but I never saw the Gene Wilder version until I was an adult.   I like the original, but I don't have loyalty to it which most of my friends have after watching the film as children.  I have now watched the Burton version quite a few times and I really like it.   His sensibility perfectly matches that of Dahl.   It has the whimsy, darkness and tad bit of creepiness of the novel.   The casting is perfect, especially Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket (his eyes break my heart each time he faces disappointment) and David Kelly as Grandpa Joe.   I always marvel at the acting talent of Johnny Depp.   I do think the original has the stronger musical score, but I love the Augustus Gloop number from Burton's version.

The novel and both films really are great examples of how something off-beat and modern can still be beautiful.   Vice and virtue are on display, with their causes and effects left for readers and viewers to consider.   It's been nice revisiting this classic with my children.

3.  Paint: Ahhh and Uggghh...

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was in the midst of a painting frenzy.   Well, my little boy decided to join me.   Monday morning, I got out the ladder and black paint.   I painted the rusty, once-white ceiling fan on the back porch.   It looks great!  Then, I painted the door-frame.   I still had a lot of dark teal paint left from painting the porch door, so I started walking around the yard, can in one hand, brush in the other, wondering (sometimes aloud), "What can I paint next?"   So, I painted the wooden gate.   Thomas was watching all of this activity.   He disapeared for a few minutes and then returned.   About an hour later, the doorbell rang and I answered it to find a man asking if he could sort through the garbage at our curb to salvage metal.   I could barely answer him because I looked down and saw bright red paint all over the front porch, bright purple on the WHITE brick column and a stencil brush coated with both colors.   The two bottles of acrylic paint lay on their sides, lids opened as if they had been quickly left, like the scene of a crime.   After two days, a scrub brush, a wire brush, rubbing alcohol, paint thinner, etc., etc.,..the brick is only faintly lavendar and the red is gone from the porch floor.   I may have to start painting at night, under cover of darkness.

4. Nature's Beauty

I discovered the artist, Isabelle Dupuy , on Facebook.   How could you not be a beautiful artist with a name like that?!   Her work is so bright and lovely.   I love to see her updates of shows and installations.   She takes such joy in seeing her pieces settled in the homes of collectors.   I'll just let her work speak for itself.   Check out her website in the link above and follow her work on Facebook.

5.   Carbs!

Pies, cakes, cupcakes: not a problem when dieting.   However, Wheat Thins crackers, potato chips, cereal...those are the temptations for me.   I'm a starch-and-carb-lovin'-gal.   So, I could appreciate this from Anne Taintor, Inc.:

And by the way...I've lost 20 lbs. so far:)

6. 1940s Superman

My son loves watching the 1940s Superman cartoons on Netflix.   I love him tremendously to allow him to watch them while I'm present.   I think my "favorite" one is the T-Rex episode where a T-Rex is kept in ice in a museum, but then the refrigeration system malfunctions and the dinosaur escapes, after he thaws out.   They're really well-done for their times and I imagine the scene in theaters when they were first shown.   Hopeful faces upturned to the light of a dazzling modern future where science and progress would bring forth a world where dinosaurs could be found in ice and come alive when thawed and a world of the Jetsons.   I'm sure my dad, born in 1936, probably saw these same cartoons at the cinema.  

And is it just me who gets aggrevated by Lois Lane?!  Sure, she's plucky and bright, but  poor Clark/Superman who has to risk it all because she refuses to listen to directions.   It reminds me of The Rifleman episodes I used to watch on Sunday mornings.   Each storyline centered around the father having to bail his son, Mark, out of trouble because he didn't listen to his father. 

7.  Getting Personal about Holy Week and Easter

I wrote a post about my childhood experience (or non-experience) of Easter.   It's one of the most personal pieces I've posted on my blog and I went through lots of edits.   My parents have both passed away, so that was a factor in writing my story.   I just hope it reflects my struggles to try--only possible with God's grace--to consider everyone's back-story and my own sin: a 2x4 in my eye, rather than focusing on the toothpick in another's eye.   It's a reflection on my stand on Easter, my longing for God, and my struggles with Holy Week and Easter.   Life's not always lovely or picturesque, but it can all be worked out for good, thanks be to God.

Blessings to you and yours for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter.

Find more 7 qt at Conversion Diary.