Please Check Your Ego as You Leave the Delivery Room

It has become quite apparent lately that I am not cool.   It’s a possibility that I was never cool, but I’m really not now. 

Case in point… Teenage Daughter was invited to a birthday party for a friend on Saturday.  As we were driving to Target tonight (yes, I know, I was feeding into my addiction but I really NEEDED to go tonight) I asked her if she wanted to buy the above-referenced friend a gift.  “Nah”, she said, “I’ll just give her money.” 

Thinking that money seems like a somewhat boring gift I suggested that she buy something cute to add to it, such as a cuddly stuffed animal.  The look on her face said it all.  “Seriously, mom. She’s. Like. 14.”  Ok, I get it.   I’m not cool and my ideas stink.  

This is not the first time that I’ve been called on the carpet for my silly, uncool ways.   Pointed questions, such as, “You’re not going to wear that, right?” or “Do you really like that?” to my mommy faux paus are reminders that I’m not only not ”da bomb” but I need supervision as well.

I’m not allowed to sing along to popular music on the radio either.  I happen to like the song “So What”?  by Pink (So what? I’m still a rock star…) and I like to sing it LOUDLY just to irritate sensitive teens who are riding along with me in my car.  Being uncool can be fun sometimes. 

Every once in a while my age and experience come in handy to dazzle my kids.  Puff Daddy’s “Come With Me”was playing on the radio and I just HAPPENED to have Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti” CD queued up in my car.  I told my kids that ”Come With Me” was influenced by the song “Kashmir” and  proved it to them by switching back and forth between the radio and my cd player.   For just one shining moment, I was hip.   Then we went home and I became my old, uncool self again. 

I’m going to give it ten years.  Maybe by then I’ll be appreciated.  And, oh, by the way – woot!  I can say that because no one is around to correct me.

Life Lessons From Clint Eastwood – Who Knew?

My husband and I went to see the movie Gran Torino on Saturday.  I have to admit that I was skeptical about this being “my” kind of movie.  The Dirty Harry movies of Clint Eastwood’s past didn’t really entice me to see this one either.  I am happy to report that, despite my initial uncertainty, I gave this movie two thumbs up. 

Eastwood plays Walter Kowalski, a rude, racist, life-worn Korean war vet who has just lost his wife and has a strained relationship with his two adult sons.  He is disgruntled with the changing face of his aging neighborhood, and particularly unhappy with the Hmong families who have moved in.  

When Walt’s neighbor’s son, Thao, attempts to right the wrong of trying to steal Walt’s prized 1973 Gran Torino as a gang initiation rite, Walt’s true colors emerge.  He ultimately befriends Thao and his sister, Sue, and attempts (in his rude, racist, grumpy way) to better their lives and his.

This is not a feel-good, hug-the-person-sitting-next-to-you sort of movie.  Parts of it are both funny and poignant at the same time, but it has a very genuine feel to it.  I felt that the characters were very believable and Eastwood  portrayed true problems that immigrant families face as well as the sad results of gang violence.  

I think part of what made this movie so interesting to me is that it was set in SE Michigan, specifically Highland Park (where, incidentally, my father grew up).   Although this movie could have been set in any older US city, the plight of aging neighborhoods is a reminder to all of us here in Michigan how our state is changing.   The downturn of the economy has made the poor even poorer.

Despite its sadness, Gran Torino is ultimately about hope.  It’s about making peace with your life and trying to better what you can.  It’s so thought provoking that I have been contemplating it non-stop for two days.  

Go ahead, make my day… be sure to see it soon.