Little Children by Tom Perrotta. Tom Perrotta is a little like Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, Message In a Bottle) in that he is able to write from a woman’s point of view, but the simlarity stops there. In fact, Tom Perrotta is to Nicolas Sparks as Desperate Housewives is to The Miss America Pageant. As spicy cajun food is to cotton candy. As Rated R is to Rated G. etc.
Bottom Line: I loved it!
Where are all the religious right-wingers on this one? Are they too preoccupied with the Shiavo case to see what’s going on here? Fender, a male character voiced by Robin Williams, spends more time in a skirt than pants, and nobody has a problem with this? Aren’t the offensive-happy parents appalled by it? Where are the cries of fear for their children being flagrantly influenced by the glorification of transvestitism?
They want to jump up and down about how a Spongebob Squarepants video is promoting tolerance of gay people, but have nothing to protest about a man impersonating Britney Spears with a rendition of “Hit Me Baby One More Time”?
Oh sure, you could argue that transvestites aren’t a threat. It’s not like any macho father is afraid of his kid turning into one, because they don’t have enough influence in politics. It’s not like they’re trying to marry each other or anything. It’s not like they’re asking to be recognized as a viable political group of constituents.
Or did they just not see the controversial possibilities? Maybe if it were a slower news day. I’m just asking for some consistency, and I’m disappointed that those bozos haven’t been paying attention.
Nevertheless, on a lighter side, the farting scene is worth the price of admission alone.
So I see this old lady on the bus today. Excuse me - Youth Challenged. I’m talkin’ O-o-ooold. You know one of those dried apple faces, no teeth that I ever saw. I’m not being mean, I’m just trying to set the scene so you see what I saw.
Anyway, she whips out her cell phone. Well - she didn’t whip it out so much as she performed a long slow pull of it from her handbag. (Old ladies don’t have purses, they have handbags) But this got me to thinking what an odd thing to see an old lady using a cell phone. And what was so odd about it? All kinds of things.
First of all, you don’t expect someone who moves like a glacier to be using such a device. Secondly, most old people don’t take to new technology, so if she’s using a cell phone, it should be some big old honkin’ thing like the first ones they used to use in cars, not one of those hip small jobbies. Who does she think she is?
I will say one thing though. The whole time I watched her, she just flipped it open and closed it and pushed buttons and put it to her ear, but never actually spoke on the thing. So maybe my old people/new stuff theory still stands and it wasn’t even her phone. She probably mugged some Wall Street type off of Wilshire Blvd, took his money and lunch and got sorta stuck with the phone and was just playing with it.
Yeah, she probably had no idea what she was doing with that thing.
Great for homeschoolers and educators.
