The Center Seat

Hey blogosphere,

I got your note. I miss you, too... sorry I've been out of touch for so long.

It wasn't you, it was me... really. I was swamped at work, and then I was violently ill, and then I had about four wildly busy days piled on top of one another. Anyway, I hope we're still ok.

In the last couple weeks I've:

• Caught Prince Caspian--twice. Yes, yes, I'll tell you how it was. (preview: KICKASS!!!)
• Had the perfect Minnesota day. I'll tell you about that too, if I get a chance. No promises, OK?
• Got caught up at work... finally.
• Ate at Mickey's again.
• Saw all three Indiana Jones movies. Belated, I know, but I got to them before the biggie this weekend.
• Reconnected with a gaggle of high school classmates. (I wonder if I'll like them any better twelve years later? Stranger things have happened.)
• Spent some quality time with Zoe the putty tat. She's a freak, but I'm utterly devoted to her.
• Figured out an amazing new recipe for homemade parmesan chicken tenders.
• Saw Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová in concert. (Mini-review: he's hysterically funny, she's gorgeously ordinary, and together they're sublime.)
• Watched The Office... the entire American series, from the pilot up through Thursday's episode.
• Continued to rock my dreads.
• Fell further in love with Metro Transit. And The Current. And MNSpeak. And my amazing city.
• Missed a blogathon that I was really looking forward to. (I am so sorry, Marilyn.)

So, there you have it. I've been living my real life, at your expense. I've been a very, very bad blogger. You still love me, though, right?

Your (mostly) faithful friend,

Nayana ...Click here for the rest of this tasty post.

When I was five years old, Mom and Dad gave me a boxed set of all seven volumes of C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. I was already an avid reader by then (maybe I'll tell you about that sometime), and I devoured the books--not once or twice, but more times than I could count. Seriously. Dad and I used to quote the books to each other in the course of normal conversation. (Yes, people, I have always been that nerdy.)

The great thing about C. S. Lewis (though of course I couldn't articulate this as a five-year-old) is that he wrote great literature for children, without ever patronizing his audience. The characters are round, deep, and dynamic; the storylines are intricate; the concepts are complex. Even now, as a twenty-nine-year-old, the books are just as challenging and satisfying. Best of all, every time I read them, I discover something new.

So you can see, I've been spoiled from an early age to expect children's literature with real substance, something that can actually stimulate ideas and make a person think. I admit the bar's a bit high, but there it is. Unfortunately, The Spiderwick Chronicles doesn't quite reach.

The story's cute enough: two boys and a girl, still smarting from their parents' recent separation, move into a creepy old house. Presently they find that an ancestor of theirs had uncovered a whole other magical world in the forest around the house, and wrote down his observations of that world in a book. One of the kids (of course it's the rebellious one who tells off his mom all the time--cliché alert!) discovers the book and, subsequently, the secret magical world.


The creatures are kind of cool. The animation is great. Of course, the voices of Seth Rogen, Martin Short, and Nick Nolte are just money in the bank. I gotta say it, though: that Freddie Highmore kid pisses me off. He plays both of the boys (they're twins), and he does this annoying thing during all his reaction shots: he just sits there with his mouth hanging open. ACTING, ladies and gentlemen!

OK, so there's not really much of anything wrong with the movie... I guess if you've got kids, bring 'em. But do them a favor... don't let this be the only kind of entertainment (movie or literature) that you expose them to. Take your children to The Spiderwick Chronicles once, but let C. S. Lewis be their regular bedtime story. ...Click here for the rest of this tasty post.

I am totally geeked out for this. I'll be at the midnight show.