Newest Member Of The Team

Learning To Fly

I don't remember what it was like for me when I was learning to walk. I don't remember how many times I fell, or how hard I tried. I don't remember the screams of excitement when I took that first step, I don't know what the reaction was in the room. I imagine that they were pretty excited . . . who knows.

I sort of remember learning to ride my bike. I remember my love for training wheels. I remember leaning to one side when one training wheel was taken off. I remember the driveway I rode on. I don't remember the falls, I don't remember when I finally got it. I don't remember if anyone was even outside when I rode.

I remember when I learned to ride my skateboard. I lived next to a cemetery and I used the roads there to ride on. They were pretty flat and not used often. Same with learning to ride my bike without hands. Same roads. No one was there. Just me and the road and my bike or skateboard.

I remember when I learned how to drive. I remember the tight grip on the wheel, the chaos of all my senses firing all at once. Hearing what I was doing wrong, the feel of the car, the sight of me not being where I wanted to be, the taste of the inside of my cheek as I chewed away.

I remember when I was learning to draw. I never thought I could actually do it. I remember the steps, the pencils, the teacher, the still life. I remember the stomach aches, the head aches, and the smile after when I could actually tell what I had just drawn.

I remember when my English teacher taught me how to write a paper. I had never been good at writing. I didn't like it - it was too big. I remember the steps, the red ink, the journals. I remember the smell of the classroom, and the guy that sat in the back that made fun of me all the time. High School sucked.

Learning to do something new is always hard. Always. In some ways I feel like I am learning to walk, ride my bike, drive, draw, write, speak, be. It sucks. It is hard. But in the end I think something might come out of it. Something better. That changed person on the other side. I may not be great at any of those things - walking, drawing, writing, being - but I can do them. And in the end, I think that is all that really matters.

Iron Man Movie Review

Use this review as you will. I can only express my opinion on this movie and the quotes of those around me. I can not be held responsible if you use this Review as a Recommendation. I will not be held responsible for any under-age viewing seeing as how it has been over 10 years since I passed the rated R test and have no children of my own. I will say that starting tomorrow at around 2:00 I will have been sick a whole week. I came home from this movie feeling markedly better than I have all week.

Iron Man (2008): Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content.

I have to be honest, I have been known to be a fan of the superhero genre . . . but only a little. I am a sucker for the cheesy dialogue and the men (and women) who overcome obstacles of spider bites, Kryptonite, or an overly keen sense of justice to fight crime. I saw the trailer of Iron Man while I was looking for some trailers for Batman Returns. I immediately forgot about Batman when I heard the sarcastic wit of Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man).

How do you review a movie like this without giving away the ending or the random surprises. Basically this is a story of redemption. It is my story, it is your story, only with a lot more gadgets and explosions. Tony Stark embodies power. He has the mind, the money, the status, and the popularity. He doesn't apologize for being an arms dealer. For the fact that he makes money of the death and destruction of so many. But what he didn't realize is that he was looking at the world and his inventions with blinders on, only seeing what he wanted to see. The blinders are ripped off in one fiery moment, rather ironically, by his own weapons. What follows is a man who truly sees for the first time what is important. He is told at one point he is "a man who has everything, yet has nothing."

The parts were played rather well. The best lines were given to Downey . . . you had me at sarcasm. The biggest surprises came in the form of Gwineth Paltrow playing Pepper Potts - Stark's personal assistant, and a BALD Jeff Bridges playing Stark's business partner Obadiah Stane. What surprised me the most was the dialogue of this movie. What I expected was cheesy dialogue with the only redeeming lines being the sarcasm zingers from Downey. What I got was a movie I could actually listen to and not groan as the weight of the cheese crushed an otherwise good movie.

What a great come back movie for Robert Downy Jr., who up unitl this point spent his post drug and alcohol rehab years in independent films that few people actually saw (except for maybe me). To be back and bigger than life in this action packed redemption story.

This movie made it hard to sit in my seat.