I did NOT see this coming — George Clooney is reportedly engaged to his girlfriend of a few months, lawyer Amal Alamuddin. Not only does this remind me of Warren Beatty marrying Annette Benning, but it's surprising based on Clooney's absolute refusal to get married for years.
But Amal is different than his recent girlfriends, as she has no Hollywood connections. Born in Beruit, and educated in both the UK and US, Amal is a beauty and brains combo that is hard to beat. Have you seen her? She's one of the most beautiful women I've seen in a long time, so yeah, George Clooney would be attracted to her. I'm attracted to her!
The surprise that everyone is expressing comes from the fact that in recent years, Clooney has adamantly denied that he would ever get married because it's not for him. The confirmed bachelor seemed to be travelling the world, hopping from beautiful woman to beautiful woman and of course, that was his perogative. Hell, if I was George Clooney, I'd probably want to spend my life in medium-short term relationships with all the most beautiful women, too. But, apparently, this very smart, very non-Hollywood woman has stolen his heart. The confirmed bachelor is a bachelor no more.
There's already talk that the reports are false or that the wedding won't happen, but I don't know. I think that it's hard for people to switch their point of view from "confirmed bachelor" to "doting husband" but I've always believed it's about finding the right person and situation. My husband never wanted to get married but because I wanted it, he agreed, and (I think) he's a happily married man. Situation changes, and the mind can change. So, I say way to go George! Congratulations on finding someone you want to marry.
And Amal?
Brains plus beauty plus being an independent woman equals snagging the most eligible bachelor in the world. Good job!
Like reading about celebs? Check out Celebrity Outs HImself on Reddit and Celebrity Relationships in the Spotlight.
In the last of this series, I'm really excited to share my conversation with Chris Murphy from Sloan. Full disclosure, Sloan is tied for "favourite band" in my life (tied with Talking Heads), so this was a pretty fun/excellent/terrifying interview for me. It was actually really hard to cut this down, because Chris and I had a great conversation that lasted almost 10 minutes! Check it out:
It's pretty excellent talking about parenting with someone who not only seems pretty laid back about the whole thing, but also seems to really appreciate his partner for all she does for his kids!
I've found this whole series pretty illuminating and interesting from the point of view that while we all struggle with our ideas of having kids and difficulties, most of us don't have the monkey wrench added of being touring musicians to boot. They say perspective is everything, and having had a chance to talk with people who are doing what some of us would consider to be very scary is amazing and hopefully will push you (like it's been pushing me) to try new things with the kids.
Did you like this? Check out the rest in this series, Talking Parenthood with Carolyn Brooks, Talking Parenthood with Damian Abraham, and Talking Parenthood with Jill Barber.
So, have you missed me? Don't know if you've noticed but I've been a bit absent as of late, and for that I apologize. My beloved mother in law, Leah, passed away suddenly after a very short illness, and our family has been sent reeling. My kids have neither of their grandmothers thanks to cancer, and at such a young age, we're particularly devastated. Life goes on, especially when you have small kids.
But, sadly, Henry is confused and angry and so I'm looking for a teachable moment we can share.
We've already explained to our three-year-old that Nana has died, which means she isn't coming back. Someone, against our wishes, told him she was now "nana angel," which, while lovely in sentiment isn't something we subscribe to around these parts, so Matt and I are having a hard time explaining what that means. And of course, because I'm a media hound, I'm starting to wonder if showing him a movie which has death handled in a good way might help. He's heard about death before (the death of my mother and our dog have all happened in his short life), but he still doesn't really understand where Nana has gone.
I know there are loads of movies that handle death in really easy-to-understand ways for kids, but which is most age appropriate? I'm thinking Disney-Pixar's Up might be the best one because the death happens in vingette at the beginning of the film, but there's also Bambi, The Fox and The Hound, and even Charlotte's Web. I want to be able to watch something with him and answer any questions during or after in the hopes that he understands what's happened.
Have you ever lost a close family member and what did you do to explain it to your kids?
Would you like to see more by Kat? Check out Has Your Taste in Pop Culture Changed? or How To Stop Being A Pop Culture Crumudgeon.
Printer-friendly version