Danielle Speaks

Some terrific humble Pig!

How cute is he??????

I just watched Charlotte's Web ( the new one) for the first time.

I remember as a kid I actually thought I had a pet spider named Charlotte and I would talk to it after my mom, dad, or sister read to me to make me sleepy. I would pretend to be asleep and then pop up and talk to the window. I was 4. I was afraid of my room and Charlotte was my protecter. Sure there are better choices for security than an itty bitty spider but I liked that Charlotte used her head and everyone seemed to be afraid of spiders and so I figured the boogie man and all his companions would shriek at the mere sight of  good ol' Char! One day in kindergarden Michael S____ told me that:
1) Our parents kill all the spiders in our houses so that they don't lay their eggs in our ears. (EWWWWWW GROSS!)
2) That g-d had a kid named Jessie Sue and that all of us pray to him.  (My school was at the Jewish community center and so the teacher hushed him quickly and told us it was nap time even though it was only 10am.)

So you can imagine the wealth of confusion and pain I was in when I came home to tell my mom that G-d had a son with a girl's name and that I was mad at her for killing Charlotte!  I don't really remember getting any other explaination except- "we're Jews boobie poo and his name is Jesus." I was told that spiders are just insects; and Charlotte does not really exist "so stop being silly- you're smarter than that!"  Mom and dad did not really dispence with the formalities- they were realists I guess- and after all as Jews we kids already knew that the Easter bunny and Santa was a hoax so it was not that shocking.  Thankfully there were all those religious cartoons on TV telling the story of the baby carpenter and so I was finally divested of the whole story.  I wondered if he knew Moses or Heyman or Queen Esther. I had no concept of time. I thought religion was like story time - tales to keep us kids occupied. After we here on earth have too much to think about to get bogged down in whatever happened at the dawn of time- that was then this is now right? Boy if I only knew.

Now as far as the spiders go- I was NOT BUYING IT. I liked them. And even though the gardener and the exterminator and my Dad kept spraying, and stamping and flapping rolled up newspapers at them- I loved them. I kept looking for Charlotte- I wondered if the ants were as nice as the spiders- if the worms that lived under the bricks in our backyard knew the spiders and I wondered if they hated me just because I was human.

Well first grade rolled around and fall came and I got occupied in other things like my first boyfriend ( we kissed eachother's noses quickly while his father made our science fair projects upstairs) and defending myself against the three mean Jennifers who were all taller than I and lived on the same block.  Eventually I became a little turned off to spiders like the rest of us but I still cry when I see Charlotte's Web.  I still think spider webs are miracles and I still secretly wish I had a pet spring pig.

Charlotte's Web is one of those stories that lives up in the cannon of my head alongside stories like  Romeo and Juliet, House of Seven Gables and Aesop's the Crow and the Pitcher. There are so many stories that we read as kids that shape how we view eachother for the rest of our lives. I think, I hope, that I understand what real beauty and friendship are- just like Wilber and Charlotte and I believe that there is some good in everyone -even Templeton.  Watch this most recent Charlotte's Web- Julia Roberts is truly superb as well as: Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Thomas Hayden Church, Cedric the Entertainer, Kathy Bates, Reba Mcintyre, Andre Benjamin (yes from OUtkast!), Robert Redford AND -in the human department Dakota Fanning ( I can't hate) and my favorite character actress: Siobhan Fallon

I really should thank Michael ____ for awakening my first moments of conscious dissention.  I'm sure Jessie Sue would be proud of you.

Can someone please give poor Harry Potter a hug?

I saw the most recent Potter chronicle last night. It was as always a great ride and this time around it was a very deep, dark, and subtle depiction of the anxt that befuddled our orphaned wizard prodigy and his miscreant followers.  I was thinking about how brilliant the Potter films are as whole together. The theme and the tone really do grow and change in conjunction with the films together and although a person could feasibly see any of them for the first time and not view the series as a series, they really our connected to eachother. It is because the first film was so light hearted and fun and comical that we are able to eventually get to this point where Harry's family issues are starting to wear him down just like any other teenager who has been traumatized. He is not ubiquitously kind and good- he is a person with dark and light and downfalls like the rest of us. I just wish some of those dry brits would give the poor orphan a hug! He keeps losing adult figures at a rate faster than any muggle can handle!

And yes I still have a crush on him- what? he's legal now!

Tucker did you write this?

By Far- my favorite line is- "Universal Healthcare reform, it makes me warm!"

Tonight on CNN there will be the Democratic National Debate and the candidates will be answering questions posed on Youtube You can vote on Youtube, CNN, and NPR for who answered the answers best-  there will be a whole slew of good questions on these sites for the audience to answer really letting us know what people think. Be sure to tune in- its your duty. Thats tonight at 7pm!

In other notes there is a great NPR story about Campaign songs and I have to admit that whenever I hear "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac I get a little tear in my eye. Dear G-d I miss Bill Clinton. He was the first President I could vote for and I don't remember ever EVER taking so much pleasure in voting since. I know he has issues but I would be perfectly happy to change the birth laws and let Arnold Schwartenegger run for pres if we could lift the term limit and bring BUBBA back!  As Bill Maher says "it would be the terminator against the sperminator."

Je ne suis pas un photographe, mais...

I have about 13 rolls of film in my fridge for about a year.  I took them with my Nikon FM-2 and I was afraid that my ineptitude would become glaringly apparent upon developing them. So I took ten of  them to CVS and for a nominal fee had them developed just on to photo CDs. You have the negetives if you ever want to make prints. Well only five of the ten came out- the other five were said to be BLANK rolls- therefore my loading skills need proper attention but none the less a little learned- there are some photos I feel are rather worth the studying and do show somehow a critical understanding of imagery- some that are disastrous but none that tell me for sure- what f-stop or shutter speed  I used. I might have remember had I not waited A YEAR. had I written a log - but alas- I did not. So the lesson that is learned is not that of a photography lesson but more a life lesson- don't put anything off!  Here is my flickr page. Bedroom Series and New France Set are the still camera photos.

Miami is nice, So I'll say it thrice (I forgot to publish this)

Miami Miami Miami! 

Hey kiddies. Just returned from a 5 day stay at my friend Jennita's mom's phat condo in North Miami Beach where we had 5 pools, a jacuzzi, a sauna, a steam room, a gym. On one of the days, we snuck into the Aqualina Resort and beached, pooled, drank mojitos and played around like the rich for nothing but the cost of the valet parking...

The water was as warm as could be, the beaches were clean, and even the cheesiest of men on the streets were still polite.  I could never live in Florida but I no longer have disdain for it: How could I with all those palm trees? It use to be the place where grandparents lived and Jeb Bush ruled but now I see it as a palce where you feel like you are visiting South America but not! Oh here is a tip_ if you bring your passport you can go for one day to the bahamas! This only costs 10 bucks- cool huh?

Also if you are in Miami- avoid dancing at the Blue Martini- its Cheesola!