Month March 2013

Sunday Snapshot 3/24/13

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A weird work schedule (really? it’s always weird!) has me feeling very Saturday-ish today, so I have to get in the Sunday mode!  Especially since I have to work early Monday morning!  Then a few days off before I work my very first holiday – Easter weekend.  I hope to make it to the interfaith service at the beautiful Chapel at St. Mary’s, at least for part of it.  Sunday morning can’t be that busy in the Emergency Department, right?

Anyway, not much to fill you in on except that I watched the movie The Sessions last night – and it was just so good!

The Sessions

The Sessions (Photo credit: Librari Kameleon)

It’s based on a true story about a man who is a journalist and a poet and lives most of his day in an iron lung.  He interviews people with disabilities about their sex lives and then wishes to lose his virginity.  It’s a nice story about this humorous and intelligent man, his relationship with his priest, his caregivers and the sex surrogate he hires after seeing a sex therapist.    It’s about love and life and poetry.  Good stuff!

Here’s a link to the article written by Mark O’Brien after his sex surrogate experience.  I haven’t read it all, but will!

Next in my DVD player is The Intouchables – a story about a person who becomes a quadriplegic after a paragliding accident.   He’s very wealthy and hires a man from the projects to be his caregiver, and boy do they have fun!  Living life to the fullest.  Good stuff!

Triple these movies with the book I just finished for book club – We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg – and there’s a theme!  I love Elizabeth Berg books and this was no exception.  This book is about a woman who contracts polio late in her pregnancy and delivers a healthy baby while in an iron lung.  She remains paralyzed with full feeling in her body (like Mark O’Brien in The Sessions) and raises her daughter to be a strong independent woman.  It’s a fictional account of an actual person’s life (ala The Sessions, as well!).  Good stuff!

Good stuff that is coming up:

Hard boiled traditional Russian Easter eggs

Hard boiled traditional Russian Easter eggs (Photo credit: Steve White2008)

  • Planning an Anna Karenina viewing party with a few people (most of my fellow-walkietalkie peeps!) who love classical literature and may have started the book or intend to read the book sometime!  I’m the only one to have finished it.  🙂  We’re having beef stroganoff, pickled beets, white Russian cupcakes, and vodka (of course!)!  Love a good theme and in this early spring, Russian literature is a good one!
  • Some fun Aunt-related activities coming up this week, including a Seder dinner and a RockTown tour! And it’s a niece’s birthday today so my gift is a shopping trip, hopefully this week!
  • It will be weird to work on Easter weekend, but I try to remember that no one wants to be hospitalized on Easter, either, so I will do my best to be a blessing to those I see!
  • Book club on April 2 for We Are All Welcome Here – with a 60s feel!  Pizza burgers, potato chips, a classic dessert, Coke in bottles… good stuff!
  • Marissa got accepted into graduate school, so we will be exploring housing options in the Cities soon!  That is something fun to look forward to!
  • And I’ve gotta work on my list for 44 Things: Q3 as it is right around the corner!

But first, today I’m getting together with friend Beth to celebrate her birthday, which was on the first day of Spring!  Yay for friend time!

How about you?  What does your Sunday look like?  What are you looking forward to?

Happy Sunday, all!

March Movie Report

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movies

I love movies!

It’s been a while since I did a post exclusively about movies.  The list is quite long since my last film post just over 6 weeks ago and most of them were in the last few weeks  as I’ve been hanging close to home and resting my knee.

In the Theatre:  

Oz The Great and Powerful – Saw this last Wednesday (free popcorn at the Wehrenberg!) with Jen.  We didn’t go for 3D,  because isn’t that getting a little old?  Everything does not have to be in 3D.  This movie did not need to be seen in 3D but it was obvious when they were playing it up.  James Franco is pretty cute, the China Doll was adorable, the monkey was a great side-kick, and it was fun to think about the land of Oz pre-Dorothy, and pre-Wizard!

Quartet – Saw this today and loved it!  I want to live there or a place like it, say in 30-35 years, so I’m going to start building my community!  The home for retired musicians was filled with the ever-constant presence of beautiful music, people rehearsing for fun opera or showtunes, and croquet and walks on the grounds.  Sounds blissful, eh?  The characters were lovable and the story was fun.  And no one died. 🙂

Liz on the Satellite Sisters podcast was talking about creating her own retirement community for her future and I was thinking about that throughout the entire movie.  Instead of moving to some canned community, she was going to create hers, inviting the people she loves to spend time with and figuring out where they want to live and hiring someone to live with them to prepare meals.  So, who’s in?  🙂  You know I’m a great social organizer!  I will ensure that there will always be something to do!

From Netflix Instant:

The Giant Mechanical Man – What a nice little find this was!  Starring Jenna Fisher (the Office) and Chris Messina (more about him later!), the movie is about not fitting in and not knowing what to do “with the rest of your life.”  Chris is a street artist and Jenna struggles keeping temp jobs.  Family and friends try to assist, but they don’t fit their mold.  Very sweet movie.

Butter – And what a hoot this was!  I saw it on preview somewhere and saved it to my Netflix queue.  Surprising cast in this film about the competitive butter sculpting world in Iowa!  The cast includes Jennifer Garner, the guy from Modern Family (Ty Burrell), Alicia Silverstone, Rob Corddry, and a surprise appearance by Hugh Jackman.  And a funny and sweet plot about a pre-teen girl who is living with yet another foster family.  Good stuff.

7 Up, 7 Plus Seven, 14 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up – These British documentaries are interesting, although I’m not watching them fully engaged but while multi-tasking.  In the first they meet a group of 7 year olds and they follow up with them every 7 years.  I believe that 56 Up was just released, so I have some catching up to do and I’m glad they’re all available!  Just a “slice of life” for a small group of people in Britain.

From Netflix DVD:
I have mentioned a few of these in previous posts, so these will be brief.  

Beasts of the Southern Wild – Fascinating story about people living in the “bathtub” of Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina.

Ruby Sparks – Did not keep my attention.  Interesting premise – a writer meets a girl like the one he is writing about and then realizes that she is, in fact, the girl he is writing about.  I don’t know what I was multi-tasking with this day, but I let it play without re-watching it.

Eulogy – Liked this neat little movie with many unexpected stars!  

Undertaking Betty –

 

Celeste and Jesse Forever – Starring Rashida Jones (also one of the writers!) and Jason Samberg, these BFF get married and then divorced, while remaining BFFs.  It is awkward and uncomfortable for their friends and gets in the way of their ‘moving on” so they have to figure out a new relationship.  Also starring Chris Messina!

 

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing – Well, the one thing is HAPPINESS, but it’s not a very happy movie at all.  Lots of story lines and stars. Not a recommendation.

 

From DVR: 

 

Ira & Abby – Starring Chris Messina (!) as a neurotic guy who gets dumped by his psychotherapist after many years, and Jennifer Westfeldt as the loosey-goosey gym membership salesperson.  They meet and feel a connection and decide to get married.  Lots of talking in this film, crazy family members, and a pretty fun story.

Next!

Next!

 

Coming up on DVD:

 

The Sessionsabout a quadraplegic’s experience with a sex therapist and The Intouchables (again!), the lovely French (?) movie about a quadraplegic’s caregivers.  Wow.  That’s interesting, eh?  Good timing.  

 

I have purchased Anna and will plan a viewing party soon!

 

Ira and Abby

Ira and Abby (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Movies starring Chris Messina:
So as I was watching the third movie starring Chris Messina lately, I decided to look him up on IMDB and see how many of his movies I have seen.  He has been in a lot and I have seen a fair number of them!  It is surprisingly a lot!  I counted 30 MOVIES on IMDB (he has also been on several TV shows).  

 

Of those 30, I have seen:   Argo, Ruby Sparks, The Giant Mechanical Man, Celeste & Jesse Forever, Julie & Julia, Greenberg, Away We Go, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Ira & Abby, Made of Honor, You’ve Got Mail, and Vicky Christina Barcelona

That’s 12 movies through the years!  Crazy, odd statistic.

Well, that’s enough. More than enough!  

Let me know if you’d like to be in on the retirement community I’m planning!

 

 

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44 Things: Q2

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Goodness… we’re tripping right along into the end of March, aren’t we?  How did that happen?  I was feeling unsuccessful in my 44 Things: Q2, until I looked at it.  I guess I’m not doing too badly – which is what happens when you simply document “things to look forward to” with a few added “things to do.”  I think I felt unsuccessful because I haven’t given it much thought lately.  So as we all push into the latter half of March, here’s my recap: 44 Things – Quarter 2 (Jan-Feb-Mar)

  1. A January mini-vacation at Deadra’s, including many movies and much wine! It was a great mini-vacation at Deadra’s!  Good conversations, good wine, good food, and a good (great!) movie!  As well as some great dance parties!  

    January Dance Party!

    January Dance Party!

  2. Read “Persuasion” by Jane Austen with Wallace’s readalong in January –  I fully participated in the “Persuasion” readalong!  Woot!  Readalongs are so good… inspires you to have a deadline, critically think about what you’re reading, attempt coherent communication about those thoughts.  Good stuff.  I didn’t participate in her next one, “Crime & Punishment,” but a friend is and is loving the book!  Guess I’ll have to add that to my TBR list!  
  3. START reading “Gone With the Wind” in February – it’s so large I’m not sure I can finish it in two months!  But it’s after “Persuasion”! I started it!  Had a few great days of reading and then kind of fell off that wagon… I’m on pg 200 (of 900) so quite a ways to go.  It is a great book and amazing how much of it is already in my head through the movie and knowledge of the movie.  Hopefully I will have quality reading time throughout the month so that I can finish sooner than later!  So many books to read!  
  4. “The Book of Mormon” with Deadra and John in February! This was such a fun event!  We had dinner at a great Indian restaurant (Bombay Bistro), a brisk walk to the show, and belly laughs throughout!  I already posted about turning my pins into magnets (making me happy!), and when I hear someone shout, “Hello!” I usually sing the next line in my head!  Good stuff!  

    Pre-show dinner @ Bombay Bistro!

    Pre-show dinner @ Bombay Bistro!

  5. Host a baby shower for a work colleague at my house on February 13! This was a lot of fun, too!  It was fun to share my home with my new co-workers, meet family of the guest of honor, have delicious and fun food and drink, and simply socialize with the great people I work with!  

    Shower Sweets - what will it be? A boy or a girl? Can't wait to see!

    Shower Sweets – what will it be? A boy or a girl? Can’t wait to see!

  6. Gaelic Storm in March with Kristine! Last weekend we finally saw them in concert!  We have been talking about going to see them for more than a year and it finally happened.  It was so fun!  It was at the Fitzgerald Theatre, which was fun to see on its own, and they are so fun to listen to!  Clever, quirky, energetic, and fun!  A great concert with great friends!  Gaelic Storm in concert!

    Post-concert - not going strong, but still looking good!

    Post-concert – not going strong, but still looking good!

  7. Social-ICE in February! Already blogged a bit about this, but worth mentioning that it was a great time once again!  
    Keeping warm at SocialICE 2013!

    Keeping warm at SocialICE 2013!

    ice sculptures

    Icy Skyscrapers

  8. Walk at least twice weekly and do yoga once weekly. I was doing pretty good at this – in fact it was happening for all of January and into February.  But horrible knee pain has derailed that and I think it’s been a month since I walked for exercise, as I can barely walk to “get where I’m going” without terrible pain.  There’s been a doctor’s visit, a steroid shot, and now I don’t know what the plan is.  Bummer, eh?  So I’ve been focusing on healthy food choices (and easy quick cooking meals, since it hurts to stand in the kitchen and cook!) instead of getting my heart rate up.  Boo.  
  9.  Spray Tan!  Get the look of a summer glow! Have not done this yet but will have to make a plan for that soon!  Maybe next week during my days off… or maybe before Easter… or maybe on April 1 so the glow moves in to Q3!  
  10.  Pick a closet and clean it out OR watch all of the Oscar nominated movies (which would you rather do??)  Well, I didn’t get either one fully done – yet!  I still haven’t seen Amour, Django Unchained, or Zero Dark Thirty.  I’m ok with that to this point, but I will look for them on DVD when they’re available.  Still can’t wait to purchase Silver Linings Playbook, as it was my favorite of all.  And cleaning?  Hmmm.. maybe I’ll get to a closet.  We’ll see!  
  11.  Invigorate book club and plan ahead for the year.  Well, we met in February to discuss The Great Gatsby and ate and talked for 4 hours!  We did discuss the book and are now reading another book from the Book Club in a Bag program – We Are All Welcome Here!  And we have a date picked for our next meeting – April 2.  No plan for the year, but a little more planful to get together!  

Well, there’s my list – as I said, I haven’t done as badly as I thought I had!   I will have to start making my list of 44 Things: Q3 very soon, as April will no doubt be here before I blink again!  

What’s Up?!

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What I’ve Been Watching:

  • Smash (NBC Tuesday Nights) – It’s so fun to watch this show about putting on a Broadway show.  There’s much that is predictable, but the music and locations are so fun.  
  • Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – Still loving this show and never miss it.  Prince was on Friday night and that was a blast!  He looked like he was having a great time, which doesn’t seem typical Prince to me.  He was smiling so big… maybe being on Jimmy’s show makes everyone feel that way.  I know I am always smiling throughout his show… good stuff!
  • Eulogy (from Netflix) – a very fun movie with a lot of people in it!  Ray Romano, Hank Azaria, Debra Winger, Zooey Deschanel, Rip Torn… and more.  The patriarch of the family passes away and the oldest granddaughter is asked to read his eulogy.  His four children have different views of him and their relationships today are strained and difficult.  Pretty good stuff.
  • Undertaking Betty (from Netflix) – Brenda Blethyn is so fun.  This is a crazy story about a small Welsh town with two funeral homes in
    Plots with a View

    Plots with a View (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    competition with each other.  One funeral director reaches out to his unrequited love and they decide the only way they can be together is if she fakes her death.  Very crazy.  And Naomi Watts?  Christopher Walken?  Craziest.  🙂

  • The Commitments (from my library) – While watching Once with Deadra, I read that Glen Hansard was in The Commitments – one of my all time favorite movies! – so I had to watch it again.  Still an amazing movie with amazing songs.  Glen doesn’t have a big role in the show and doesn’t sing much at all, but it is a strong movie.   What are the chances – two of my favorite movies of all time have a few things in common!

What I’ve Been Reading:

  • Gone With the Wind – Finally started this and about 100 pages in.  I’m sure that I have watched the movie in its entirety only twice in my life, but it’s amazing how it is so firmly in my mind as I read it. I can hear Scarlett’s mama’s voice in my head as I read the words.  I can picture the barbeque (which I’m just coming up to) and Scarlett and her admirers. I look forward to reading more and then having a viewing party!
  • My City, My New York: Famous New Yorkers Share Their Favorite Places – A fun little “guide book” that Sarah bought and I borrowed.  I’ve been taking notes, Troy, so will have some little additions to my itinerary when I visit next!

What I’m Listening to:

  • “Nice Work If You Can Get It” has a great Broadway Cast Recording!  Love the Gershwin tunes!
  • Noisetrade is introducing me to a lot of new musicians for the cost of my email address.   – just downloaded a SXSW sampler. Love samplers!
  • NPR Music also has a free download of 100 songs featuring artists who will be at SXSW.  Love NPR!  Good through the beginning of April!
  • Still listening to my weekly stash of podcasts – Pop Culture Happy Hour, Satellite Sisters, Wait, Wait!, Filmspotting, The Moth, …
  • Listened to a few hours worth of Gaelic Storm via their youtube channel – good stuff!

What I’m Looking Forward to:

  • It’s March!  Spring is right around the corner!
  • Gaelic Storm this weekend – can’t wait!  “What’s the rumpus!” Guess I’m going to find out!
  • Cosmo Girls Thursday – stargazing!
  • There are some movies that I look forward to seeing (Oz! Admission!), but many of them are on DVD already (Anna Karenina! Celeste and Jesse Forever!  The Sessions!)!  More to come on that front!

What about you?  What’s up?

 

 

 

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