The Milestone of Matriculation

Well, The Boy and The GF have finally matriculated.  They are currently in that starry-eyed limbo between high school and college... between PlayStation and summer jobs.  Yours Truely and G-Ma are just beginning to recover after having sat through two ceremonies... in a row.  Thankfully, The GF's mother surprised us all with a celebratory cake inbetween, which gave us enough of a sugar surge to deal with the next round of speeches.  You could tell how excited The Boy was.  All you had to do was watch him spring to his feet when they asked the graduating class to rise.  You'd of thought someone stuck him with a pin the way he popped out of that chair!

Today The Boy struggled through the obligatory Thank You cards that follow graduation giving.  Of course, family rules of etiquette had to be hammered out first...

"No, you don't have to send a card to Brother1 for the 'I took an IQ test... and it came back negative' ballcap that he sent along with G-Ma.  You should, however, mention it in your card to G-Ma. This will assist in keeping the level of negativity at G-Ma's house to a minimum. 

No, you don't have to send a card to Brother2 for the Graduation 'Smiley' he texted to you. A simple 'ty' should suffice. Please send the "ty" now, however, as he's already texted me several times to ensure you did indeed receive his "gift".

Please write legibly... in complete sentences.  Each card must include more then "Thank you for the money.  Sincerely..."  You must include at least one sentence about how this gift will help with college purchases.  Again, legibly... other people should be able to decipher the message... without requiring a translator."

After looking over the completed cards, The Boy and I had a discussion on the importance of handwriting in a technical society.  He insists that keyboarding skills are all that one needs in this day and age.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to resist the temptation to re-write a few of the (non-family) cards myself... especially those to co-workers.  The fact that each is identical should speed the job along, though. 

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

The Boy trys to block my view... focus my attention elsewhere... physically steer me away, but I'm drawn to that huge bin of low priced videos at the store.  Yep... That's me pawing through multiple copies of "Twins", flipping past the "George of the Jungle", frantic to see what's under that copy of "Speed" always searching for that one gem that always hidden somewhere in there.  I know it's there... I have faith it's there.

For years now, Yours Truly has been on a video treasure hunt.  It all started back when I realized how many wonderful movies that The Boy would miss out on if I didn't take matters into hand and expand his viewing horizon.  He wasn't very appreciative at first... You should have heard the whinning..."It's black and white!  I can't believe you're making me watch this old thing!"  I finally got him to agree to watch the first 10 minutes of Jimmy Stewart in "Harvey"... and he was hooked.  Of course, who wouldn't fall for an invisible, 6 foot tall rabbit hanging out with a family almost as odd as our own.

Slowly we've crossed movies off the master list...  from the oldies to more modern fare.  We've run the gamut in a noble quest... for I truely believe that our youth should be exposed to more then just the latest fad.  Call it my version of a classic education, be it movies, books, or music.

I'll never forget dragging The Boy to see "Lord of the Rings" when it first came out.  "Just consider it my Mother's Day present... dinner and a movie."  The Boy watched wide-eyed as the tale unfolded... leaping onto his knees in the seat to loom over me when the credits began rolling... "It can't end there!!  What happens next!!"  That evening we dug out my old, dog-earred copy of the second book in the trilogy, "The Two Towers" and he took up the quest anew... struggling a bit over the vocabulary, but enjoying the tale all the more for the effort. 

To that end, I'd like to share a list of my top ten, must-see movies.  Yours Truly and The Boy agonized over which of our favorites to include.  I was shot down on "Breakfest at Tiffany's" and used my veto power for his suggestion of the movie version of "Rent".  Let us know how the following matches up to your top ten.

Movies: 

"To Kill a Mockingbird" 

"Cool Hand Luke"   

"The Godfather"                                               

"Arscenic and Old Lace"  

"Star Wars" (Originals only, please!)                    

"2001 - A Space Odessey"

"Schindler's List"

"What Dreams May Come"

"Lord of the Rings"

"It's a Wonderful Life"