Movie reviews

I saw three movies at theaters this weekend. It's January, still cold, gotta get out of the house. Apparently everyone else feels the same way, because everyplace I went over the weekend was crowded. Roads, parking lots, grocery stores, movies, etc. I guess there's a lot of house bound folks looking for entertainment. But my entertainment was good. Here's a synopsis, and I don't think there are any spoilers:

Juno: good movie, odd music that you have to listen to the words, great acting, but I didn't think it was all that funny. Having teenage daughters made it hit too close to home I think. But the message was good in the end.

American Gangster: this was already at the $2.50 theater. It was very good. Plot driven, acting solid (Denzel and Russell), long (3 hrs), but very interesting movie. True story.

There will be Blood: Based on book Oil by Upton Sinclair. Danial Day Lewis nominated for Oscar for this performance. I don't think he has any serious competition. They can just mail it to him now. Interesting story about a man, his character (good and bad), and the relationships he has with others over a 30 yr period. Also long (3 hrs).

So, that's what I did all weekend. That, and read about UFO's. More on that later.

I wish I had a picture to show of this...

....but I didn't have my camera with me and it would have been too awkward to take a picture under the circumstances anyway.

On Sunday I was with a friend on the way to the "good" grocery store across town and we were going to stop for lunch. The place I had in mind was closed, but there was a French cafe in the same little strip mall, so we stopped there. (Where I live, French anything is rare.)The first clue to this twilight zone experience was that although the sign outside said "OPEN", there were no signs of life, no lights, nothing. But my friend K. tried the door anyway. It was locked. As she started back to the car, the door was unlocked and opened by the proprietor, a little French woman. So we parked and went in. The place was half the size of my living room, and my living room ain't that big. It had 4 small tables with little space between. In the corner sat a very pale older woman (maybe late 60's or so) who was eating a bowl of soup. After each bite of soup, she would begin to fall asleep and her head would head toward her bowl of soup. The Frenchwoman would ding a little bell that was sitting on the table and the pale woman's head would jerk up, and she'd start on another bite of soup and the process would start all over again. The bell was like the ones they have in motels at the front desk. The two women seemed to know each other and joked a little that the pale woman was tired and that's why she kept falling asleep. Nobody is that tired. She was narcoleptic.

Anyway, we ordered and ate. It's a long story involving soured half and half, too much mayonnaise and chunks of onion on the chicken salad sandwich, canned mushroom soup, and a shockingly high bill of over $15 apiece, but the dinging bell went on the entire time we were there. When we left, the pale woman was still working on the same little bowl of soup and still falling asleep after every bite.

I got them January blues...

It's cold and cloudy and cold and cloudy and I feel like this turtle. Slow and cold and cloudy. It happens every year at this time, I start thinking about spring, and warm weather and vacations and spending money on things I don't need. I also get a tad obsessive. Today I'm obsessed with Hillary Clinton and the primaries, scientology and the tom cruise video on youtube, finishing the pineapple shawl I'm crocheting, mon tricot magazines, finding a cheap but serviceable office chair I can take to work, and taking pictures of odd urban landforms, like a creek that flows through the backyards of a poor part of town. BTW, the turtle in this picture was only about 3 inches long.

these are now on my car

I ordered these from Cafepress and added them to my bumper, which also includes a Hillary Clinton sticker. No doubt where I stand. I love political bumperstickers. They look better on my car except I put them on crookedly. Real crookedly. Oh well, point made.

Family photo

Isn't this a creepy picture? This is my paternal grandfather. He died when I was less than 2 years old, so I don't remember him. I think I only saw him once or twice anyway. His name was Esau, and from the stories, he was about as mean as he looks. He reminds me of Grandpa on the Munsters. I had only seen one picture of him before this one, and he didn't look any friendlier in it. This picture was sent by a cousin to my brother, who showed it to me. And those flowers make the whole scene more macabre.

In my corner of the room, sits this, as of Dec. 27th. My darling daughters got the bookcase for me to hold my "moat". That's what they call the semi-circle of clutter that surrounds MY chair. My moat contents vary, but usually include yarn, bags to put yarn in, my laptop, several pairs of shoes, socks, magazines, books, a box of Kleenex and ALWAYS, my newspaper. AT THIS MINUTE, my moat includes all of the above mentioned things AND 3 purses (I do like to change purses often), a crocheted baby blanket in pink I finished yesterday, and my new tell-all Joan Rivers book I got at Bargain Mart this morning. So, the bookcase helps tremendously, but I still have a moat.

Only in the south...

...is this scene not uncommon. Driving home from N.C. we stopped to wash the salt spray off of the windshield. It was so cold, the pump for the windshield sprayer had frozen, requiring us to throw bottled water on the windshield periodically and use the wipers like mad before it froze over again. I looked over at the convenience store and saw that they conveniently had rebel flags everywhere. Ironically, a young black girl was operating the place.

It shouldn't matter what I say, so much...

.....but it does to people. I'd like to be able to say what I want without other people taking it so seriously. At my advancing age, I'd like to be less cautious, less guarded, but if anything, my opinions matter more to other people, and ironically, less to me. So, I think I talk less to avoid the appearance of my opinions being worthy. Then, on the other hand, there are times when I am a true sage, and my wisdom and insight are invaluable to all humans. I don't want to miss those opportunities.

A gnarly tree in the Smokies.

Happy New Year

Actually, I took this on the 2nd of Jan. I was in the mountains overnight and it snowed and this was a scene on the way home. We haven't had much snow in a long long time, so it was fun to see. Not enough to make snow cream, tho. It was really cold, about 18 degrees where I took this picture. I like cool, but not so cold that I have to wear a hat all day inside the house.

Apple cake and hot buttered toddies

This a picture of the apple cake my friend K made for Thanksgiving. It's relevant now, because she made another one for tonight's revelry. The second one didn't look as pretty, but it tasted good anyway. I only got a bit of crust that was leftover. It was a big hit. It all went well with the Cincinnati Five Way Chili and the hot buttered rum, although some had eggnog from an old Mississippi recipe, and some had wine and champagne, and some tried a little of all of it.