Dear Diary,

I’m writing from Oaxaca, Mexico, where I’ve been for a week with my mom and dad, and my little sister Caedryn. Today we went to breakfast and the owner of the restaurant told us that in Mexico there is no tooth fairy.  Rather, a mouse comes and takes away children’s teeth and leaves money under their pillows.  Then we went on the bus to the swimming pool and water slide.  Our bus raced another bus down a busy street (which was different than yesterday when our driver got into a fistfight with another driver).  Once we got to the swimming pool, my dad bought us cookies and we watched fireworks explode over the pool. I put on my new  shoes and took a tennis lesson.  Then we went to Tule, where we saw the “world’s largest” tree and my dad bought me a green ball to play with. I played on swings and a see-saw and, of course, a trampoline.  We had sodas, ice cream, and Mexican sweet bread.  Then we took a taxi back to the center of Oaxaca. As we were walking down a major street downtown, we saw a man spit gasoline out of his mouth making a huge fireball. Once we got home, I read Archies comics.

All in all, my life remains uneventful and without excitement or reward.

Very truly yours,

Rory Pierce

Dearest Diary,

Daddy is very bad.

And it is NOT opposite day.

Sincerely,

Caedryn Pierce

Six tennis courts, two huge pools, a cafe with wi-fi (for that thing called work), and an awesome waterslide. Plus, a summercamp starts tomorrow.  Robert thinks he may have gone to heaven.  Something bad will happen soon, he’s sure.

Marimbas a el museo  (i.e., marimbas at the museum).

¡Que bonita! (i.e., pretty!)

Jugos a el mercado (i.e., juices at the market).

Champulines en la bolsa (i.e., grasshoppers in the bag).

Estan leyendo en la biblioteca (i.e., They read in the library).

The house cat.

Getting settled in.

The Pierces have a new microscope.

Pollen of Lily

Mint leaf

Last week the Pierce family watched The Red Balloon (full film). Robert remembers fondly that his mother took him and his brothers across Los Angeles to see it at a museum when he was about 6 years old. That was 1973, so it had already been in release for seventeen years.

From wikipedia,

The thirty-four minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red balloon, was filmed in the Ménilmontant neighbourhood of Paris. It won numerous awards, including an Oscar for Lamorisse for writing the best original screenplay in 1956 and the Palme d’Or for short films at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. The film also became popular with children and educators.

In what must be one of the most bizarre film reviews ever written, Philip Kennicott, in the Washington Post, wrote:

“[The film takes] place in a world of lies. Innocent lies? Not necessarily. The Red Balloon may be the most seamless fusion of capitalism and Christianity ever put on film. A young boy invests in a red balloon the love of which places him on the outside of society. The balloon is hunted down and killed on a barren hilltop–-think Calvary–-by a mob of cruel boys. The ending, a bizarre emotional sucker punch, is straight out of the New Testament. Thus is investment rewarded-–with Christian transcendence or, at least, an old-fashioned Assumption. This might be sweet. Or it might be a very cynical reduction of the primary impulse to religious faith.”