— 1 —

We went to see Prometheus Wednesday night. I loved itm a very big Ridley Scott fan and was not disappointed. Was it perfect? No. But overall it was very intriguing. Michael Fassbender was achingly beautiful. The cinematography was exquisite. It was sci-fi eye candy! I was afraid the Patriarch would not like it at all with its questioning on who created us, how we got here, and where we are going, but he liked it. I felt it struck all the right chords and left room for individual interpretation. It’s not so much a prequel to Alien as a foreshadowing. We had a pre-release Alien marathon at our house last weekend, watching all four films over two nights. While Prometheus stands on its own, one of our guests at the movie didn’t quite have the satisfaction of all the “a ha!” moments that we did; moments that bring some clarity to the first two Alien movies. Not really a horror movie, though there were definitely some icky parts, and I could have done without the sexual references, but definitely worth the trip. The Spare and I may go back and see it in IMAX 3-D!

— 2 —

If you have trouble trying to pick out which movies are appropriate for various family members I would highly recommend Kids-in-Mind: Movie Ratings that Really work. They can be found here. Don’t read the reviews unless you want to know everything, and I mean everything, that could possible happen or be said in the movie. Despite major spoilage, it is an invaluable tool for our family (it allowed me to decide to take my soon to be 14-year-old to an R-rated sci-fi movie. I know, but I figure he’s seen way more violence at his Catholic school, and if there’s no overt sex I’m okay). I saw The Exorcist when I was 15 (at the drive-in, sitting on a brontosaurus) and it didn’t kill me. Of course, I didn’t sleep for a few weeks and I was sufficiently damaged that if I even see an image of Regan’s jacked up face I think I’m going to faint. I’ve only watched it twice since then. Once in college (under duress) and once with my husband and our then 16 year old, who admits that despite it’s now cheesy special effects it was the scariest movie he had ever seen. I can’t stand to hear the theme song and when that commercial came on for the updated director’s cut and showed Regan walking down the stairs backwards like a spider…okay. I have to stop now.

— 3 —

My goal is to be in the top 15 of people who link to Jen’s 7 quick takes. So this will be the “early edition.” I’m actually writing and saving a draft Thursday evening. Let’s see how early I do in this in the morning. I may have to start setting my alarm. And don’t you think about trying to beat me either!

— 4 —

We’re in the 13th year of our 3 year renovation project and this weekend the Heir and I will be cleaning out our back bedroom where the dog crates are and all the tools and left over air conditioning duct work, and just junk. The plan is to pull of the wood floor, put a new one down, pull down the ceiling and replace the sheetrock and repaint. Patriarch works 6 days a week and teaches CCD so we really on have Sunday afternoons to cram renovation work, and family time into a few short hours so I’ll post “before”, but it may be quite a while before the “afters” show up.

— 5 —

I’ve read two of the 16 Second Vatican Council documents: Lumen Gentium and Guadium et Spes. They were required reading for a graduate class I took in Catholic Bioethics in Clinical Practice. So, now my goal is to read the remaining 14. I was shocked at how accessible they were. I always thought they would be very scholarly and written for fellow theologians. But they are written for you and me and are very easy to understand and laid out beautifully. Too bad they’re not available for the Kindle. That would be totally awesome.

— 6 —

Has anyone seen the Sherlock Holmes series on PBS? I hear great things and episodes are available for free on the PBS website. I’m going to try to add this to my list of things to watch when I can’t sleep at night.

— 7 —

We had lots of hail damage in the area last night (ha! fooled you with the bold, didn’t I?). Those of us who could really use a new roof from our insurance company were not blessed with the hockey puck-sized hail. We didn’t even get any rain. Big Sigh. So for now, my new roof will continue going to Catholic school.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!