Book/Movie Review: "The Rape of Europa"

The Nazis were real assholes.

We knew this, of course, but here's a level of assholery I didn't consider before reading this book and watching this documentary: The MFers damn near destroyed all of Europe's art along with its people.

"The Rape of Europa" basically chronicles (as best it can) how the Nazis purged their own country of all art considered unfavorable, or degenerate, and then plowed through the rest of Europe and did the same to Austria, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and part of Russia. (The only exceptions being the pieces they wanted to own for themselves, of course.)

There's way too much information for me to break it all down, but I will try in a few sentences:

1. Hitler & Co. were a bunch of douchebags who stole art and bombed whatever they felt like bombing.

2. The Allies, trying to win the war, ruined some stuff, too, which really sucks.

3. A bunch of stuff was recovered, and most of it was returned to its rightful owners from before the war (but since a bunch of the recovered stuff belonged to exterminated Jews, quite a lot of it did not.)

4. There are still thousands -- THOUSANDS -- of pieces missing, and resoration projects on some of the ruined things continue to this day.

Basically, the Nazis treated art the way they treated people. If they had any "redeeming" value, they were spared. If they were by Jewish artists or of Jewish people, they were put on display as "degenerate art" or destroyed. (Not unlike Jewish ID badges and concentration camps.)

And the most baffling thing of all is that Hitler was an art student! He didn't get accepted to the art school he applied to, which good and pissed him off. What is difficult to reconcile, though, is that a man who can so easily set about exterminating entire cultural groups can also appreciate the beauty of art.

I hope lost art is recovered someday. I hope the Russians stop being childish and realize that two wrongs don't make a right (side note: three rights make a left... chew on that.) I hope that the world never forgets the atrocities of World War II and that history never repeats itself. And I hope Hitler is burning in hell where he belongs.

TV Review: "Who Do You Think You Are?"

As a history/genealogy geek, I would be fascinated by this show no matter what. As a celebrity whore, I am ultra-fascinated.

In a nutshell: Famous people are given an opportunity to look back into their family histories by using lots of resources and a camera crew.

So far this season, Sarah Jessica Parker learned that one ancestor died in the California Gold Rush, and another was accused of being a witch in Salem, Mass. (Back when that kind of thing was frowned upon.)

Emmitt Smith learned that his great-times-some-number grandfather was actually a white slaveowner, and that his black ancestors came from the slave coast in Africa.

Lisa Kudrow's great-grandmother died in a horrific way during the Holocaust, but she found living relatives in Poland.

Matthew Broderick's grandfather turned out to be a WWI hero, and his grandfather's grandfather lived through the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, but died later in Georgia. (This research allowed the keeper of the records of the unknown soldiers buried near the battlefield in Georgia to identify the last unknown soldier.)

It's like a soap opera, but it's real!! I'm obsessed.

This show reminds me of the brief moment I considered being a history major in college. But then I realized I'd have to own a tweed blazer with suede elbow patches, and I just don't think I can pull that look off.

What this show seriously reminds me of is that everyone has a history. And thanks to a lot of hard work by a lot of other people, it's easier than ever to learn it. Until the day I have the time and money to do this for myself, I'll just sit back and enjoy watching the adventures of the rich and famous. (Brooke Shields is next... she finds out she's a descendant of King Louis XIV of France!!)

Tune in Friday nights at 7 p.m. (Central Time) on NBC.

Happy Birthday to me

I turn 29 today (or tomorrow, depending on when this is posted. March 25 is my birthday).

A few people have done that thing where they ask how old I'm turning, I say 29 and they do, like, a quick inhale of air through their teeth. I think that's supposed to mean that they expect me to freak out about almost being 30.

I am so not freaking out.

Don't get me wrong, there are moments when I'm like, "My ovaries are totally going to dry up if I don't get married and have kids soon." But then I actually THINK about getting married and having kids and I do the quick inhale of air through my teeth.

Clearly, I'm not ready for any of that.

I'm actually looking forward to the 30s (after I enjoy this last year of the 20s, of course). I think in the 20s, people are still trying to figure themselves and the world and what they want out of both. In the 30s, there's a foundation. Not to say it's going to be easy and suddenly make sense, but I think people in their 30s are more assured overall. Plus, they are more respected by others than people in their 20s are. (I think.)

The other day at work, a friend of mine who is almost 2 years older than me told me she was freaking out because a lot of her friends from high school and college seemed to be having kids at the same time. The rest of the convo went something like this:

Me: "Why does that freak you out?"

Her: "Because we're so young! I can't imagine being a mom right now, can you?"

Me: "No, but we're at the age where it happens. Didn't we just talk the other day about how pregnancies are considered higher risk if the women is 35 or older?"

Her: "Yeah."

Me: "That's not that far away."

Her: "I know."

I know I keep harping on the pregnancy/baby thing. I must have been brainwashed at a young age or something, because I honestly don't want that right now. Maybe not ever. But then I think of things like how my mom gave birth to my little sister when she was 29 and I feel like I'm behind on things in life.

Wow, this turned into a weird post. I'm going to blame it on 20s-self-doubt residue.

The point I was trying to make at the beginning is this: I'm not afraid of moving from my 20s into my 30s. I think a lot of things are going to happen for me in that decade. And I'm looking forward to them.

But if I'm not married by the time I turn 40, I'm totally registering for birthday gifts.

More little things

I've been kind of down lately, so it's time to list some more little things that make me happy.

1. Ryan Reynolds

2. Breakfast tacos

3. "The Office"

4. Road trips

5. Clinique's Black Honey

6. Chai

7. Pedicures

8. Farmer's markets

9. Getting potted plants from my grandma

10. Greeting cards

Movie review: "Remember Me"

Other reviews I've seen of this movie basically dog it because the reviewers think the plot is contrived, the characters are predictable, and because for some reason nobody can think of Robert Pattinson without thinking of "Twilight."

I get all of that. Some plot points didn't contribute anything of giant value. We've seen these characters before. And yes, Pattinson is in "Twilight."

But.

This movie affected me in a surprising way. I cried... twice. The first time was because watching it sent me straight back to the days when I was sad, scared, depressed, angry and didn't see a way out of any of it. Watching the relationship between Tyler and Ally made me remember the relationship between me and my ex, which was not good in the least. I've worked really really hard to distance the person I am now from the person I was then, and when I see things like that on screen that trigger those memories, it messes me up.

The second time was because at the end of the movie -- the part that critics feel is a cheap attempt to make the audience feel something -- I felt something. And not just because of the ending. I felt that watching this movie, I was probably watching someone's real life without knowing it. Because in our early 20s we're all trying to figure ourselves out, right? And for some of us, it was harder than others. And regardless of the circumstances, it's nothing short of tragic to get close to figuring something of ourselves out and then be denied.

Life isn't fair or easy. This movie shows that. And just because we all know that, and we've seen plenty of other movies that show it, doesn't mean this one should be ragged on for telling the same story. THAT is unfair. If any other actor besides Pattinson was in this role, the critics would be praising his effort, even if they didn't care for the film overall. THAT is unfair. But worst of all, they are leading the audience to feel bad about responding to this movie in an emotional way. They are cheapening the experience by acting above it. And they are denying that the story could be at all real, when in reality it's a version of everyone's story. THAT is unfair.

Sometimes these things just come to me. *shrug*

This rose is painted red!
It's painted red, I said!
It's white beneath
the crimson sheath
that covers its pale head.


How do I know it's white?
'cause white is only right.
It's pure and clean
and so pristine
it glows in the moonlight.


But who would ever taint
a white rose with red paint?
Perhaps a sinner
or poor winner.
Surely not a saint.


Will the truth be known?
Will only red be grown?
Are we stuck
and out of luck
to have a bloody throne?


No, there will be a day
when we'll look back and say,
"It took some time
and lots of rhyme,
but rightness found a way."

Congratulations Kathryn Bigelow!

The first woman to win Best Director at the Oscars!

And way to do it for all the ex-wives everywhere!

Book quote

Sometimes I'll buy books from the clearance shelf at the bookstore without knowing anything about them or their authors. I find some great stuff that way. I also find some stuff that I don't end up caring about at all.

One book I got a couple of years ago was "A Great and Terrible Beauty" by Libba Bray. It's apparently the first in a trilogy, which I did not know until recently. I have no intention of reading the other two books, because this one didn't really do anything for me. (Also, Bray is from Texas, but says in the author interview at the back of the book how much she hated it and wanted to escape. Shame on her.)

However, there are a couple of lines Bray wrote that really resonated with me. I think they say perfectly the way I feel about certain things in my life:

"I fear I will always have to chase the things I want. I'll always have to wonder whether I'm truly wanted or whether I've just been settled for."

Yeah.