Insomniatic Musings Child Of The Month

Now - let me just point out that i've been so lax with running features that i cant even remember which friday of each month i said i would do Child of the Month. So, forgive if i'm a little out of wack here ......

NAME: Emily Bear

AGE: 8 years old and counting

CUTENESS FACTOR: Off the scale!

REASON FOR FEATURING: I’m featuring Emily Bear for two reasons: firstly because she’s talented, and secondly ? Because she’s just so cute! Seriously – have you seen her on the “ The Ellen Degeneres Show “ ? She’s just pure cuteness on a stick! Altogether now….awwww. For those who haven’t seen her on TV, Emily is a young piano prodigy who also happens to be adorable. I’ve seen her twice on “ The Ellen Degeneres Show “ and although I’m no music virtuoso myself, I have to admit she’s pretty impressive for her tender age. I mean, she composed a song for Ellen and Portia for their wedding, which made Ellen cry. How sweet is that?
Amongst her other achievements: she played at the White House when she was 6 years old; she's the youngest musician ever to have featured at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago ( ok, this one doesnt mean anything to me but apparently its noteworthy ) and she's released 4 albums so far. 4 albums at 8 years of age..... holy guacamole.
I suppose the cynics amongst you might argue that she’s probably being pushed by bossy stage parents, or that any pieces that have been written by Emily must have been, at least in part, written by an adult. Shame on you! Sure, maybe her parents did push her to start piano lessons at a very, very young age ( NOTE: I’m not saying they did. If your Emily Baer’s parents, please don’t sue me ) – but most children that age wont keep something up unless they really enjoy it. They also wont be good at something unless they have a natural ability and a passion for it. So, as far as I’m concerned Emily Bear is a cute, talented little moppet whether its her choosing or not.
So congratulations to Emily Bear on being Insomniatic Musings Child of the Month – see what kind of acclaim talent and a cute set of dimples will get you ?

Feature Friday: Insomniatic Musings Child of the Month

Name: Olive Hoover

Age : 7 years old

Hometown: Alberqueque, New Mexico

You Know Her From Where ?: The film " Little Miss Sunshine ".

Reason for featuring: Because she is one of my favourite child film characters of the last few years. For starters - look how cute she is with her little teeth, and her chubby cheeks and her huge glasses. Seriously, those glasses could rival the specs i wore as a child, so anyone who can wear those and look so gosh darn cute is a-ok with me. But what i really love about her is her self confidence. If you havent seen " Little Miss Sunshine " ( why not ? Go rent it now! ) little Olive wants to win a beauty pageant, and her whole dysfunctional family take a road trip in effort to help her achieve that dream. Her father is a motivational speaker who cant sell a damn thing; her brother has taken a vow of silence; her grandfather is hilariously funny, but addicted to drugs; her uncle is a suicidal gay scholar; and her mum is trying to hold everyone together. And Olive ? She's just this little kid that likes to dance and 80's throwback sweats.

What i love is that Olive has no real idea that her family is so dysfunctional, and neither does she think of herself as awkward ( even though the massive glasses would, stereotypically, suggest " nerd " ). Nope, Olive is just a sweet, chubby, little girl with a dream - and a an awesome pageant coach/ junkie Grandpa who encourages it. The whole final dance scene at the pageant, and Olives attitude in the face of pageant judgery ( is that a word? it is now... ) just melts my heart.

So here's to Olive Hoover - to her big glasses, her old school sweatbands, her awesome choice of music, and her dysnfunctional family. A worthy recipient of Insomniatic Musings Child of the Month.

The Unveiling

Alright - so i spent a few hours trolling websites looking for a free Blogger skins and this ( God, please tell me you noticed! ) is what i came up with. Why the fish ? Well, i have goldfish and i liked the imagery of the one goldfish making the leap from the bowl. I'm making a leap right ? Sure, i've been leaping for quite a damn while and havent exactly landed yet, and when i do land my fishbowl wont be empty ( it'll have a partner and a baby fish in it! ) but still - it said something to me. So there you have it - i've gone from Lauren Bacall to goldfish. Decide for yourself whether that was the right direction to take.



Now, as far as this new regular feature i mentioned.... i'm having a baby, i like children, kids are great. So, in that vein, why not celebrate them ? So, here it is:

" INSOMNIATIC MUSINGS CHILD OF THE MONTH "

NAME: Bartholomew Jojo Simpson ( aka " Bart " )

AGE: 10 years ( and has been since 1989.... )

HOMETOWN: Springfield, SomeStateNo-oneKnows, USA

REASON FOR FEATURING: Bart gets to be my first featured child of the month basically because he's the most famous 10 year old in the world. Right ? I'm pretty sure even children in war torn 3rd world countries know who is. So what do we know about him? He's the eldest of the Simpson children; he has mad skateboarding skills; his hero is Krusty the Clown; he had a number one hit in the 90's with " Do The Bartman "; and, suprisingly enough, he's voiced by a woman.

Bart has always been my equal favourite Simpsons character ( its hard to go past Homer... ). In fact, when i was around 10 years of age my self, my parents banned my brother and I from watching the Simpsons because they thought Bart had too much of an influence on our behaviour. Which, lets face it, cant be that good - he's a smart arse ( " Eat my shorts! ), he pays little attention at school and revels in raising hell for Principal Skinner, and just does naughty things in general ( hello prank calls to Moes Tavern! ). But that doesnt mean Bart doesnt have a heart of gold. We've seen it from time to time - helping Grandpa find the Hellfsih Bonanza; getting Lisa's yearbook signed by the " cool kids " on vacation; and taking up bike riding and tea-partying with Marge when no-one else would. THAT'S why i love him: he's mischevious and rebellious and sometimes downright rude, but when it comes down to it he's a little sweetheart.

And so, thats the first of my Child of the Month feature posts. The child of the month may be a fiction character from either tv, film or literature; a particularly talented or prodigious real world child; or just a kid i know that i reckon deserves a write up. So, in the spirit of keeping it interesting for the rest of you, if you have a candidate that you'd like featured that fits that bill, drop me a comment and let me know!

Everyone Loves A Makeover!

Alright - so here's the thing : i'm beginning to believe my blog has become boring. Not just the theme and colour scheme ( blue? blah! ), but the writing too. I was reading some of my old posts, my back catalogue if you will and i realised something:

I've lost my funny.

Not that i'm saying i was ever, like, Tina Fey funny. Or Nick Hornby funny. Hell, i wasnt even WildARSChase funny. But i like to think i had a certain wit, a certain quirk, a certain way of looking at the world that was sometimes amusing. And its gone. And that, my friends, sucks arse. Big time.

And so, i'm gonna try changing things up. Why not? My " real " world is changing at a rapid pace and what is my blog if not a reflection of my reality ? I've looked at the blogs i love - and the blogs i'd love to be - and i've taken some of the things i really love about them on board. Or at least i'm going to try to.... who knows, this makeover could fail big time. It could be a make-under as it were - i could go from Charlize Theron in " Cider House Rules " to Charlize Theron in " Monster ". Frankly, thats not a prospect most of us would be looking forward to ( you know, unless you were totally into the idea of making out with Christina Ricci and, umm, killing unsuspecting men. )

Look out tomorrow for the maiden post of what i would like to make a regular " feature " and stay tuned to see if i can work out how to give myself some kind of cool colour scheme ( doubtful, but i'll give it a shot )!