Bellbottom Blog

Friday Potpourri Vol. 18

Welcome back!

I was invited into a Twitter session Wednesday night.  It was a Dads Roundtable .  They meet once a week and tackle different topics.

My friend from Founding A Father tipped me off to it.  They were discussing keeping the connection between the husband and wife while juggling raising kids and work.

I think sometimes people put a bit too much pressure on themselves.   My suggestion was to do the simple things.  Offer to get the other a drink, maybe an extra pillow.   And you can’t look at the kids as an obstacle to your happiness.  Resentment follows and it just becomes a downward spiral.

The hour flew by.

Shortly after they were done, I saw a tweet that led to a woman’s blog where they were talking about the same thing just from a different perspective.  The writer of the piece has a blog of her own called My Cheap Version Of Therapy. I left a comment there that reflected what I had said to the guys a little earlier.

It was an interesting experience, visiting with both sides.  They really want the same things.  The challenge is how to get there.  And there is no easy answer.  But you HAVE to keep plugging away.  YOU HAVE TO.  Marriage.  Raising kids.  None of it is easy.

It is odd how Twitter can give you the opportunity to meet such a wide variety of smart, sharp writers.  Like the folks over in the Blogroll, for instance.

In other news…

Who thought opening the new Die Hard movie on Valentines Day was a good idea?

While we are talking about movies here are some predictions for Oscar night:

Sally Field wins for her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln.

Argo should win for Best Picture. The only other nominee we have seen is Lincoln.

I liked both.  They were similar in that we knew how they were going to end.  The trick becomes keeping the suspense going throughout the film.  Argo did that much better, I thought.

Let’s face it: Whom were you more surprised by?  Ben Affleck as a director or Steven Speilberg? Right!  So, since Affleck got passed over for director, he deserves the Best Picture award.

Lastly, the following is my favorite tweet of the week.

A person I follow had just finished reading a book about Charles Dickens kids.  She said they adored them for reasons that escape her.

My tweet went like this, “If the book on Dickens kids didn’t start with “He was the best of fathers, he was the worst of fathers”.T’would be a shame.”

That’s it for me, kids.  Play nice. Check out the blogs I mentioned today and any of the others to my right.

And as always,

Peace