Dragons In Our Midst

Our boys discovered Shrek, and rather surprisingly, Rhys has become enamored with dragons.  I found a sweet book for him, There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon, and dug out a tiny dragon figurine from my childhood.  And then the boys celebrated Dinosaur Day at school, one thing led to another, and now Rhys has an entire blended family of dragons and dinosaurs in his room.  Bedtime currently involves offering his old pacifier to each figure in turn, pronouncing the gift too big, and then kissing the “tiny” dragon or dinosaur on the nose, before bidding it goodnight.  I have no idea how long this phase will last, but it’s adorable to watch, and we all think dragons are pretty cool.

And speaking of dragons, Ryan and I finally discovered the phenomenon that is (or was) the Millennium series of Swedish films, based on the books by Stieg Larson: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.  These books and films have been on my radar, but since I’ve spent the last three years either pregnant or nursing or both, I’ve had little time to actually check them out.  Netflix is currently streaming the entire Swedish film series, in six subtitled segments, and I highly recommend it!  And I’ll be the first to admit how shocked I am to be absolutely enthralled by the entire series and the author, who is equally as interesting as his characters.  I’ve borrowed the books from my dad, and I’m working up the courage to read them, since murder and violence are not my preferred literary themes for an evening of quiet reading.

But there is something so intriguing about the seedy side of Stockholm, Sweden, and since my master’s thesis did focus upon the issue of violence in Chicana literature, well, this is right up my alley.  Larson’s Mikael Blomkvist and his endless pursuit of justice, via the pages of his articles in Millennium Magazine, are incredibly inspiring to any writer.  And what can be said about Lisbeth Salander, the title character?  She is a survivor in the truest sense of the word.  Plus, she hacks away at her computer like a dedicated blogger, and it is fun to watch.

Dragons have definitely taken over our house for the time being, and we are having so much fun!