Restoring some good feelings for humanity

Sometimes at about this time of year I start not really liking the general population. Bad weather and worse drivers, cranky old women at the grocery store, mindlessly blathering co-workers, and other stupid stuff generally makes me want to hole up in a closet and avoid the world at large until summertime when its all so much easier to handle. However, a slew of sweet books and movies has me smiling til my face aches.

So if you're in need of a pick-me-up, try any of the following.

Loved this book! So sweet and funny! Dan Savage's book, The Kid, is all about he and his boyfriend's experience with adopting a child. Its a wonderful read! (Really do I need to use any more exclamation points to convince you to pick this book up?)

The Uncommon Reader is a really short little novella all about the queen of England icovering the joy of reading. Very sweet and breezy.

How's Your News? was the real heartwarmer. Its a documentary about 5 mentally disabled camp members who travel across the US interviewing people for their news show. Its so wonderful! So many times I flinched thinking that someone approached by these reporters wouldn't be nice, but the response of the general public is so great. And the reporters are so enthusiastic and have such a great time with it. The scenes with Larry (in the picture above) were my favorites. I also have the overwhelming urge to roll down a grassy hill - something that will have to be put off until summertime of course.

I put off watching Ratatouille forever. Something to do with my growing dislike of most things Disney (Why does every f'ing dress up costume for girls in the toy store have to be a stupid Disney princess? Can't girls want to dress up as other things?!) . However, Pixar is wonderful and this film was cute and funny and about cooking which I love. Not my favorite Pixar film story (that's reserved for Finding Nemo), but this is probably the most stunning animation I've seen.

Also as a side note - I'm a rabid overuser of parenthesis. I can't help it, but I can confess and apologize for it.