Old Favorites

 I've been reading a lot of new authors and I've enjoyed their books. 

But sometimes, I just want to read books by my old favorites: Marcia Muller (the Sharon McCone series), Carolyn Hart (the Death on Demand series with Annie Laurence Darling), Donna Leon (the Commisario Guido Brunetti series), J.A. Jance (currently reading the J.P. Beaumont series), Rhys Bowen (the Royal Spyness series), Faye Kellerman (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series). Janet Evanovich's latest book was just published and I'm now on the wait list. There are 297 holds on 122 copies, so it may be a while.

Actually, I'm getting less thrilled with Janet and her character Stephanie Plum with each book. It's as if she's trying too hard to be funny. But I keep reading them because there's a certain level of comfort with these old favorites. 

I'm seriously considering beginning the alphabet with Sue Grafton's books. I read A is for Alibi within the last couple of years; I'll probably start with B is for Burglar. I'm up-to-date on Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series, though I may start back at the beginning with Indemnity Only. It's been a long time since I read that.

I have a list of my favorite authors and I'm dependent on the site Fantastic Fiction to keep abreast of their works (and to read them in order on my retrospective jaunts).

I've also borrowed about a zillion old movies on DVD that I've been watching: Birdcage, as well as the original La Cage aux Folles; Hannah and Her Sisters; 9 to 5; Cinema Paradiso; Amadeus. 

M. and I are spending more time at home because it's too cold to be outside in the evenings. That means less (maybe no) inviting a couple of friends over for dinner. Or being invited to others' homes. I'm mentally preparing myself for 6 months of "down-time".

One bright spot is being able to go into the MLS office one day each week. I get to talk with another person who is across the room. We don't spend much time talking, but at least she's there. And I get to see different walls and a different view out of the window. The computer is better, the monitor is bigger than the ones at home.

Today is a work at home day. Guess I'd better get to it. I'm now up to "The flight ..."

Onward to O

Yes! On Friday, I finished with the letter N. That's the fastest yet for completing a letter. I was so close to the end I really wanted to get there. I did not start O because I had a lot of requests from libraries that had arrived on Thursday and I needed to attend to that task. I pride myself on MassCat's (my) turnaround time.

Since I only work in the office 3 days/week, it's not a good idea to let the requests sit around. Forty-eight hours is a reasonable limit. Also, the MLS-Northampton delivery days are Monday and Thursday. Some of the requests were sent to me in "person" on Thursday. I always try to get them done and back into the bin for Monday's pickup.

I have something to look forward to when I arrive in the office at 11. That letter O.

This will be a busy week.

Monday: a lecture at the Sci-Tech cafe on Future Foods, including 3-D printed foods (?). This is a series of very technical topics presented for the general public. They're usually way over my head and the people I know who attend them say the same thing. But the talks are still interesting. The research that's going on in universities is truly amazing.

Tuesday: a documentary on Hedy Lamarr, the actress who was also an inventor. Amherst Cinema has
been showing films of women who have made significant contributions in scientific research. Of course, being women, they tend to be ignored or not taken seriously.

Thursday: a meeting of all the Healthy Bones and Balance (HBB) Leaders. We have these meetings 3 times/year. It's a chance to meet some of the other leaders, learn about new exercises, and ask questions. I still think about becoming a personal trainer and/or wellness coach.

Friday: LaRK Jazz Trio is playing at Bread Euphoria. The L of LaRK is a friend of mine whom I met when she started to attend the HBB class at the Hatfield Senior Center. Now M and I socialize with her and her husband and have also become LaRK groupies. It's a pleasant night out and we often invite friends. We sit around, chat, drink wine and munch on pizza or soup and sandwiches. Very nice.

Saturday: M and I are hosting a dinner party. We haven't had one in a long time and are looking forward to this. Of course, there is some stress: what will I serve 8 people? What's easy to make so that I can still spend time with my guests? And I want to impress them with my culinary skills.

As spring continues its envelopment of New England, more signs pop up. Yesterday, a mother black bear and her yearling came onto the deck. No doubt, she was trying to get to the bird feeder, which is too far from the deck for her to reach. It's taken us a lot of years to place that feeder in a way bears and squirrels cannot get to it. That doesn't stop them from trying, though. The bear climbed a tree (which was still too far away) and then settled for picking up the seeds that had fallen to the ground. As fascinating as they are to watch, I don't want to encourage bears to spend time in my yard. After a few minutes, I stuck my head out the sliding glass door and told her to "go away".

She did.

Woody Allen Movies

I've seen just about all of Woody Allen's movies, if not in the theater, then on DVD.

When a person writes and directs one feature film every year, some are bound to be duds, but others will be great and worth watching more than once.

My very favorite Woody Allen movie is Hannah and Her Sisters. Someone suggested that may be because I have sisters. It's possible, though not an overt feeling on my part. I just think the characters are realistic, have such depth, and their relationships are multi-faceted. There's so much going on in their lives from a variety of perspectives.

A close second in terms of favorite movie is Midnight in Paris. I saw it when it was first released and recently watched it again. While this movie is clearly a fantasy, it's just SO enjoyable. And the music is great. I actually bought the CD of the soundtrack which I have been playing regularly for the last few weeks. It doesn't hurt that I love Cole Porter's songs. My favorite is You Do Something to Me, though Let's Do It has been running through my head for the last several days.

Another favorite is Blue Jasmine. This is a serious movie, very unlike most of Woody Allen's. It's somewhat reminiscent of Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire which I also view every few years. The definitive version, of course, is the one with Marlon Brando.

Allen's most recent movie is Wonder Wheel. While it is narrated by Justin Timberlake and might give the impression of a comedy, this film is very much in the genre of Blue Jasmine. It involves a moral dilemma, which is a theme in several of his movies.

This idea of a moral dilemma plays a big part in Irrational Man. However, the movie, which tries to be a thriller, just doesn't make it. I love both Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, but I doubt I'd ever bother to see the movie again.

Another film that began with a good premise but wasn't able to follow through is To Rome With Love. Three amusing stories that take place in Rome, flip back and forth from one to the other. I found that the stories sounded a lot funnier when I was describing them later to a friend. On the screen, they somehow didn't quite work.

And then there is Melinda and Melinda. What a great idea! A group of playwrights is arguing about whether people prefer to watch comedy (to forget their tragic lives) or tragedy (to make their lives look better). The men begin with the same scene and develop two different stories. In the film, the stories go back and forth and I found trying to keep the characters straight was totally confusing. Another one to add to the "don't bother to see again" pile.

Most of Woody Allen's other movies fall somewhere in between, though Annie Hall is often listed as one of his best and I do like it.

I've been borrowing DVDs of Allen's movies on a regular basis for the last few months. Given how many he's made, there are still lots to come.

Sally Field and the movies

Remember the television show Gidget? What about The Flying Nun? Both starred Sally Field. I didn't watch either of them regularly, but I rather liked Sally Field. I've seen her in several movies over the years.

Now at 69, Sally has a wonderful new movie, Hello, My Name is Doris. M. and I saw it at the Palm Springs Film Festival last month. I've been recommending it to everyone I talk with.

Sally plays Doris, a 60 something woman working as a bookkeeping at a company in New York City. She's single and lived with her mother on Staten Island in a house full of "stuff". Her mother has just died, her brother is pressuring her to clean out the house and sell it (he owns half), and Doris is in a muddle. A new manager arrives at work (some 20 years her junior) and shows Doris kindness. She immediately develops a crush on him. What follows is funny, sad, and very real as Doris learns more about herself in a few days than she has in the past 60 years.

Most fun of all was that Sally Field and co-star Max Greenfield were there. When the film ended, they went up on stage, talked about the movie and answered audience questions. One of the things Sally said that resonated with me is that our image of ourselves is often (always?) much younger than our chronological age. I'm only a few months younger than Sally, but my internal age is somewhere in my 40s. She also commented on how few good, starring roles there are for "older" women. How true.

Please go to see Hello, My Name is Doris. I know you will like it. Doris' outfits alone are worth the price of admission.

At the Movies

Last month, M. and I spent a few days in NYC at the Tribeca Film Festival. Ever since he and I went to the Palm Springs Film Festival at the recommendation of some friends, he's become a Film Festival Fan.

We saw 3 films and one really stood out. I've been recommending it to anyone who likes movies. Being an indy film, I don't know if it will ever show up in theaters, but if it does, please take some time to see Virgin Mountain.

Watching this film, I felt sad, happy, annoyed, excited, anxious and every emotion in between - just like life. As I was watching, I thought I knew what was about to happen. Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't. Without giving anything away (I hope), I ultimately felt satisfied.

I'm fortunate to live near Amherst and the Amherst Cinema which often shows small and unusual films that you'd never see at the mall. I hope they show Virgin Mountain as I would very much like to see it again.

Another favorite of mine which I've seen twice (both times at the Amherst Cinema) is Caesar Must Die. It takes place in a maximum security prison in Rome  where the prisoners are going to give a presentation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. It is not a documentary, but is filmed in the prison and most of the actors are prisoners. The story begins with casting the characters and is mostly about the rehearsals which take place in various parts of the prison because the theater is being renovated. This is an amazing movie and well worth an evening out. Dinner at Pasta e Basta down the street completes the Italian theme.

Juxtaposition

When I was an undergraduate at UMass/Amherst, I wanted to take the class "History of Film", but it was always overenrolled. Who wouldn't want to sit around watching movies all the time? I did, however, manage to slip into a lecture where I learned about "Juxtsposition" which has become one of my favorite words. Last night, I saw the movie Even the Rain. It's about a independent film company making a film about Christopher Columbus and the Spanish exploitation of the native people in the new world. The Spanish insist that all individuals pay them a certain amount of gold on a regular basis or suffer serious consequences. The filming takes place in Cochabamba, Bolivia where a multinational corporation owns all rights to the water, even the rain. The story of native defiance to the invading Spaniards coincides with the real life protests of indigenous Bolivians to the severe taxation of their use of water. Even the Rain is a gripping story at both levels. I have seen this technique in other movies. In The French Lieutenant's Woman, the actor's personal lives parallell those of the characters. In Carmen, the cast of an opera company experience the same intrigue as the people they portray. Neither, however, equals Even the Rain which also includes a look at the recent political situation and current living conditions in parts of Bolivia. Juxtaposed with this social commentary is the book I'm now reading: One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell (author of Sex and the City). This is the story of a group of wealthy people who all live in the same elite building in NYC. The old money, society people have strict, if unspoken, rules of proper behavior and are dismayed by the antics of the much wealthier, new money people who have recently moved into the building. To read about these self-indulgent individuals after watching the poverty in Bolivia is almost more than I can process. And juxtaposed with the situations above is my life which is so different from both. I don't have a 3-story penthouse appartment with live-in help and a Bentley at my beck and call, but I do have plenty of water - hot if I want it. While I don't make as much money as I used to, I do make much more than $2/day and live in a pretty nice house. I guess I should feel angry and outraged about the inequity, but I feel more confused. How and why do such things happen? I am so totally grateful for what I have and feel quite helpless to have a positive impact on those who have so much less. I know that there are very wealthy people who are using their money to make improvements to the world. Juxtaposed to them, unfortunately, are those who make millions and feel they still don't have enough.