In Memoriam: Montague (Monty) Brough Terry

Unfortunately, I didn't get to know Monty well. We only met a few times, but I'll never forget the first time I met him. Mike and I went to Albuquerque for a visit with the Terry family and I was sort of nervous -- we'd only been dating a couple of months and it would be my first time meeting many Terry family members. Monty made me feel so welcome -- I sat down on the couch and almost immediately found 90 pounds of beagle on my lap. Unexpected, yes, but also very endearing. He was a very sweet dog. -- Melissa

Melissa's memory of Monty points to what I'll always remember most about him - his unconditional love. I'll always remember how excited he was to see me, whether it was first thing in the morning or after I had been away from home for a semester at Utah State. He would wag his tail so hard that his whole body would shake. Or if it had only been a little while since he'd seen me, if I walked into the room after being in another room for a little while, Monty would start to wag his tail. If he was laying on the floor, I'd hear the "thump, thump" of his wagging tail hitting the floor.

The most fun that Monty and I had together was on our walks. When I would put on my tennis shoes, he knew it was time to take a walk, and he would get so excited! He'd run and jump, and it was kind of hard to settle him down enough to get his leash attached to his collar. But after the pre-walk drama, we were off to sniff the neighborhood together. Some walks lasted longer than others. If something happened that Monty didn't like - if a strong wind blew in the wrong direction or if Monty spotted a hot-air balloon overhead - he'd turn around, hunker down, and drag me back to the house.

Monty, we love you and we will miss you. -- Mike

For more remembrances of Monty, see Bob & Emily's blog and Rachel & Jake's blog.

Happy Holidays!

Melissa and Mike in Chicago in August 2008

We wish all of our friends and family a very merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a healthy and productive new year. We're grateful for your friendship and love.

The Wild, Wild West of Illinois Politics

Rod Blagojevich

Our esteemed governor, Rod Blagojevich (pronounced bluh-GOY-uh-vich) has apparently been trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. Great. This is just the latest incident in Illinois's very sordid political history. My hope is that this doesn't hurt President-elect Obama too badly -- he's not implicated in the mess, but of course Fox News has jumped into the Obama angle of the story with both feet. Since I didn't grow up in Illinois and didn't take Illinois history, I need a little insight into when and why things went so wrong. Somewhere between Abraham Lincoln and George Ryan, ethics and morality completely excused themselves from politics in this state.

Another movie post

A friend and I went to see Twilight yesterday. Yes, I read all four books. No, I am not 15 or a children's librarian or a YA librarian. No, I didn't read them just because the author is Mormon and so am I. Yes, I'm a little bit embarrassed at how much I liked the series. Why? Because it's about teenage vampires and it's a pretty sappy romance and I was an English major and should have higher standards for the stuff that I read.

Now that the Q&A is out of the way, here are my thoughts about the movie, Twilight:

• It is lesser than the book.
• It could be much worse.
• The movie includes some cheesy dialogue, bad special effects, and not particularly great acting. But it's not all bad.
  
• The movie (and the book) totally capture the despair and wonder of teenage love.
• The movie very successfully evokes the spirit of the book.
• The movie captures just what it's like to be in high school.
  

So, I enjoyed the movie. Mike was totally uninterested in seeing it (and I know he would have been groaning and rolling his eyes throughout), so I'm glad I got to see it with a lady friend rather than subjecting Mike to the experience. My very funny brother-in-law, Mike's brother, is blogging about his experience reading the Twilight series. Check it out: Edward Kidnapped My Wife.

P.S. One more thing -- recently on Times and Seasons (a Mormon blog) there was a review of Breaking Dawn, the final book in the Twilight series. ** Spoiler Alert ** The reviewer claims that Breaking Dawn is "a profoundly Mormon book by a proudly Mormon author" because it concludes the love story not just with a marriage, but with the promise of an eternal partnership (a tenet of Mormon belief). The book also makes the heroine a perfected and immortal being after her death (which is also a part of Mormon theology). Any thoughts from those of you who've read Breaking Dawn? I personally wasn't thrilled with the book, though it did satisfactorily tie up all the loose ends and effectively finish my addiction to the series.

The Fountain

Mike and I watched this movie last night and I'm still thinking about it, which is the sign of a good movie, if you ask me. Movies that stay with you and make you think for hours or days are often more worthwhile than the type you forget as you're leaving the theatre. I'd recommend the movie if you're interested in "love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world" (summary from imdb.com).

Yes!

Halloween 2008

We had a fun trunk-or-treat party at our church last weekend, with lots of fun stuff:

• kids in costume
  
• games
• a chili cookoff
• a dessert contest
  
• and candy!

On Halloween night itself we hung out with our friends, Heather and Devin, and watched the movie Clue and handed out candy to their trick or treaters. Good times!