Quick update from Casa De Bear.

I watched “The Man from Earth” last night. Totally cool sci-fi movie, but totally not like Hollywood sci-fi. No aliens, no space ships, no special effects, no time warps, no killer robots (big or just terminating), none of that. The movie is about a college professor who is about to move, and his colleagues all come out to his house for a going away party and ask him why he’s leaving a good gig. Turns out, he says, that he’s really 14,000 years old and so he moves every decade or so in order to avoid suspicion. They don’t believe him, of course, so they get into a question and answer session about what he has seen and done. The movie is a back and forth conversation about all this. So freakin’ cool.

Also last night, we watched Game Plan. This is more mainstream (obviously, it’s Disney after all) but still had some cute bits. For the girls there is Mr Rock lifting weights and smiling a lot, for the guys there is a uber-hot ballet school instructor. For the kids there’s a cute kid, a dog named Spike, and a bubble bath.

Today, my wife is working, I’m home with the kids. I offered them a deal: for every minute they spend cleaning house, they get two to play video games or watch TV. So far, this has worked amazingly well, my eldest has spent almost an hour vacuuming, mopping (well, swiffering), picking up toys and books, and now dusting. It’s awesome.

Hope y’all are well.