Another new decade

I remember when the 60s became the 70s, the 70s became the 80s, the 80s became the 90s, and then the turn of the century. But I remember those occasions as seeming much more significant than the beginning of a new decade seems to me now. And I wonder why this is?

Is it just because I'm getting older? Or does it have to do with leaving behind a decade that still doesn't quite have a name? Was it the Oughts? The Oughties? The Ohs, or the OhOhs? And what are we entering? The Teens?

You rarely hear references to the 20th century's teen years as the Teens. Why is that? When we refer to "The Turn Of The Century" do we mean the years 1900-1909, or does it go all the way to 1919?


I have a hard time imagining how the years 2010-2019
might distinguish themselves from the years 2000-2009. Though I'm sure they will, and I'm sure it will be interesting.


How funny to think that there will be a day when photos taken in the Oughts and the Teens will be as distinctive and representative of their decade as the photos on this post are of theirs.

I think another reason the change from one decade to another seems less significant to me than it used to is because new decades now make up much smaller percentages of my lifetime.

I was 25 when the 70s became the 80s - so the ten years of the 70s had comprised nearly half my lifetime. In contrast, the Oughts took up less than one fifth of my life so far. And the Teens will be even less.

There's a cheery thought for the new year

The Holiday Season

I'm not a person who generally enjoys "the holiday season". The holidays are something I approach with dread and try my best to get through. Though some years, of-course, are better than others. Some years are okay. Some have even been fun and happy. This year Santa brought a mixed bag.

But one good thing about every holiday season is the release of a slew of new movies. I always look forward to that, and this year is no exception. Except, I'm not at all interested in the alien world of Avatar. Or Sherlock Holmes, which has been described as having "intensely exaggerated fight scenes, played out in graphic slow-motion or at hyperspeed."

So far this season I've seen two new movies, The Blind Side, and Up In The Air, both of which I can recommend. Especially Up In The Air. It's not quite as great as its hype, but definitely worth seeing. The story goes places you don't expect, the characters are complex, the visual are a treat, the two supporting actresses are very good, and George Clooney is as charming as usual.

You ve Got Mail

I watched You've Got Mail on TV last night, and even though it was probably the 5th or 6th time I've seen it, it was completely enjoyable to see again.

It's true that I'd like you to think I have pretty high taste when it comes to films; that I prefer my movies to have done well at Sundance or Cannes. But the fact is, I'm a sucker for a really good romantic comedy - though the good ones are so rare.



In spite of the fact that the plot of this movie is convoluted and unbelievable, every moment rings true for me. And it doesn't hurt that I'm in love with the stars, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Plus it has a great supporting cast: Dabney Coleman, Parker Posey, Greg Kinnear, Jean Stapleton, and Dave Chappel. What fun. Not to mention, it's set in New York City, AND it features music by Harry Nilsson! What's not to like?

You've Got Mail only got a B- on Yahoo Movies, and 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I think it's destined to be a classic. I'm sure I'll watch it again and again.

When this movie was released in 1998 I'd just recently seen the old 1940s movie it's based on, which made it all the more fun. If you haven't see The Shop Around The Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan I highly recommend it, especially if you like You've Got Mail.

And the Oscar goes to....

I enjoyed watching the Oscars last night & correctly predicted 11 out of 13 categories! But I can't brag about that too much since it was a pretty predictable contest. I'm not sure why it is that I continue to be such a fan of the Oscars, especially since I've been disappointed with so many recent winners (No Country For Old Men, The Departed, Crash.) There's just something about the Academy Awards show that I continue to love, though I'm not sure if it's the fairy tale quality of it all - the stars, the gowns, the glamour & excitement - or just waiting to see what outrageous thing will happen & what will go wrong.

I thought Ben Stiller's impression of Joaquin Phoenix was in bad taste. Funny, yes, but is it fair to make fun of the mentally ill? I liked Hugh Jackman's opening number, but could have done without the "Salute to Musicals" - what was the point of that? I also didn't like Queen latifah singing (a romantic song) over the montage of those who've died. That just didn't seem right. But in general I thought it was a pretty good show - my favorite moment being when Kate Winslet asked her dad to whistle.

The Visitor

It's cold and snowing again, several inches expected, but I don't mind since there's so much inside to keep me occupied. I watched the movie "The Visitor" last night and really enjoyed it. Richard Jenkins (the actor who played the father on Six Feet Under) plays an isolated college professor who's life is changed when he discovers a pair of illegal immigrants living in his seldom used NYC apartment. His performance is brilliant and the story is fascinating - I was completely engrossed and sorry when the movie was over. It's a movie with something to say, but doesn't hit you over the head with its message. I highly recommend it.

Another fool for Facebook

As much as I hate to admit it, it's true: I finally gave in and signed up on Facebook yesterday. And I can't even come up with a good reason why. I guess I'm just a lemming. A follower. A lonely kid on the playground who doesn't want to be left out of the game. Pitiful.

Up until now I've hated Facebook, especially because of the way BB has gotten so hooked on it recently. I resent the time she spends there. And I hate it because it seems so pointless. It's not like Flickr where you actually create something and give & get meaningful feedback. Or like a blog where you have to write in a way that your potential readers might find informative, entertaining, or insightful. In contrast Facebook has always seemed kind of juvenile and inane to me. But then BB started telling me all about people I knew who were on it and, damn! My curiosity got the better of me. So I signed up, but I'm still not really a convert. There's only so much time a gal can spend goofing around online & I'd rather spend that time here or on Flickr.

Valentine's day treat

BB and I had a Valentine's day lunch at the Blue Margarita Cafe' - a nice little treat on a cold and snowy afternoon. We had a quiet day- puttering around the house, listening to NPR, and playing around on the computer, as usual.

Inspiration

So, I was driving down the road wondering what I should write my next blog post about when I had a sudden flash of inspiration: I decided to write about those sudden flashes of inspiration that come to you while driving.

You know how it is - there you are mindlessly driving along, when suddenly the solution to whatever it is you've been worrying about, or the sudden recollection of that thing you've been meaning to do, suddenly hits you.

This is a phenomenon that also happens to me in the shower. I seem to get my most fabulous insights and great ideas when I'm either driving or bathing. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this. For some reason these routine activities seem to free the brain of a lot of noise that otherwise gets in the way.

The only problem is that I can't remember these flashes of genius unless I write them down. Which is why I keep a pad of paper and a pen in both the car and the bathroom. I have actually gotten out of the shower to write little fragments of thoughts on occasion, and in the car I've become fairly adept at writing with my right hand while steering with my left.

Here is a small sampling of my car notes: Too imbued with per. sig. Kazoo, symph? Peeves, talking etc... tkts wait wait. chi. Fluke. All about happiness! Add Gram P. stuff. Took a long time - flawed. thng abt C. Mem. Antonym of intense?

These are all things I wanted to remember to do or to write about. But none of these things seem as important and significant now as they did at the moment of inspiration - which is, sadly, the way so many of my moments of inspiration go.

Frost/Nixon

I went to see the movie Frost/Nixon yesterday and liked it a lot more than I'd expected. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes details of how this unusual and significant television interview came to be, the character study of these two very different men, and the drama of the interview itself, which plays out like a prize fight. I also enjoyed all the period elements, and of-course the great acting. I totally believed Frank Langella was Nixon.

So, I've now seen all five movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but I can't say which one I like best. I'll be rooting for Milk, but I'm sure the winner will be Slumdog Millionaire, which was a little too contrived for my taste, or Benjamin Button, which I thought was a tad too full of itself, and too long.

Ben

Ben is seven months old now and is starting to get around on his own. He doesn't exactly "crawl" but can easily wiggle and move his body around to wherever he wants to go - which is most often toward some new object he'd like to touch and inspect.

He particulairly likes objects with texture. I presented him with a ball of yarn during his visit this weekend and that kept him fascinated for quite awhile.

When inspecting a new object one of the first things Ben wants to know is if it makes a noise when banged against another object or by his hand. He is also very interested in how things move through space and across surfaces.

We got him a little cloth duck that makes a "quack,quack,quack" sound when its belly is pushed. Ben loves it and listens, still and quiet, while the duck quacks, and then he "talks" back to it.

He is a very happy baby and a joy in our lives. I'm sorry I don't live nearer to him, but glad that I'm not too far away.

Heatwave

It's 44 degrees and the snow is receding! They say it could get up to 53 - a heatwave! And my baby grandson Ben is coming to visit - couldn't ask for a better February day.

Revolutionary Road

I've been on a bit of a movie kick lately. If I get to see Frost/Nixon sometime soon I will have seen all five Oscar nominees for best picture - something I don't think I've ever done before.

This afternoon I went to see Revolutionary Road and it wasn't quite what I'd expected. It was certainly engrossing - I loved the look of it & the acting was terrific, but the story was disappointing. It bugged me that I didn't know enough about the main female character to really understand her, she wasn't very well-rounded. And while I understood that she felt stifled by her 1950s suburban life, the movie could have done a better job of demonstrating what was SO stifling about it. As it's depicted her life doesn't seem so bad & she comes off as completely selfish, self-involved & neurotic. Much more so than her husband. It's hard to have much sympathy for this character. And I really hated the end, with Leonardo DiCaprio saying "She did this to herself!" And then a little coda of a scene with a woman - the real estate agent played by Kathy Bates - blathering on and on while her husband turns down his hearing aid. That's how this movie ends - with a man completely tuning his wife out! What was the point of that?? There are some very good supporting players in this movie, and the costumes and art direction are great, but on the whole I didn't like it much & I think it's offensive to women.

The Reader

We stopped to watch these deer about a block from our house tonight on our way home from the movies.

We went to see "The Reader" and it was excellent. Definitely one of the best movies of the year. It's a fascinating, thought-provoking story, the acting is great, and it's thoroughly engrossing all the way through. I rank it much higher than either Slumdog Millionaire or Benjamin Button, both of which were good, but flawed.

My favorite movies of the current awards season (so far) are:
#1 The Reader
#2 Doubt
#3 Milk
#4 Rachel Getting Married
#5 Vicky Christina Barcelona

The news

I was clicking through the TV channels while on the treadmill today and clicked right past the president speaking live on CNN. This was the result of a habit I'd developed during the last eight years. I had trained myself to avoid all potentially disturbing political speeches and soundbites by tuning them out. It was a reflex, a Pavlovian response. But, wait a minute, I thought, this is Barack Obama. I might like what he's saying!

So,I flipped back and listened as the president explained to reporters some of his specific plans for the country, and it was interesting and enjoyable. How unusual! Perhaps I'll be better informed during this administration since I can once again stand to watch the news and news channels.

So far I'm pretty pleased with everything Obama's done. Except for inviting that homophobic, fundamentalist cult leader to speak at the inauguration. I'm still getting over that.

January Thaw?

Today is my twin sons 28th birthday. And it's the first time I won't be with them to celebrate. I'm in Detroit, they're in Kalamazoo, and since they're grown up married men it seemed about time their mom stopped planning their birthday celebration. But still... I miss them, and I miss the tradition of getting them a special cake and lighting their candles twice.

I dreamt last night about planning a birthday party. I made a lot of cupcakes and invited a lot of guests, but things kept going wrong. I overcooked the spaghetti, there wasn't enough sauce, the guests were getting hungry and bored, and then the birthday boy, my son, disappeared. He went somewhere with his friends without letting me know and I didn't know how to find him.

There was also something in this dream about curtains that wouldn't work and a broken phone. It was obviously a frustration dream. I was trying so hard to make this event a success, a happy success, but everything kept going wrong and working against me. Which sounds a lot like my life. There's no need to dig too deeply into the psychological interpretation of this dream.

There's often a thaw right about the time of my sons birthday, but not this year. Winter is really getting to me. I've had my fill of cold and snow and grey skies. I would be somewhere else if I could, somewhere warm and bright and esthetically pleasing, but I am here, in the rotting industrial hulk of Detroit, far away from everyone and everything I care about (except for bb and rust), in the middle of another winter, during a recession, with the crazy world in peril - but at least George W is gone. Hurray!

minus four

The low tonight is predicted to be minus four! That's pretty cold, and has me wishing I could be somewhere warm, with the sunshine baking my bones. I'd happily hop on a plane & go to the tropics or the desert, even though I've told BB that I don't want to travel right now, or even think about planning a trip.

She recently had an idea about driving down to Asheville NC. I'd really like to see Asheville, and so it was an appealing idea. I looked at the map and saw that we could drive through the Smokey Mountains National Park on our way & that would be nice. We were beginning to plan the trip for this April, but I had to call a halt. There's just too many other things on my mind right now. The writing for one thing. And for another, finding a new place to live.

This spring will be filled with finding a new house or apartment - no easy challenge in Detroit, especially considering BB's commute. But I've got to get off this island where I feel so isolated, and we've got to get away from living across the street from a high-school before drum practice season begins again!

BB is still hooked on Facebook Texas hold 'em. She has played every night since she discovered it, though she claims the appeal is beginning to wear off. At least it's not for money. But since she's begun we haven't played cards, had dinner together, or watched TV. Between the two of us the computer is in nearly constant use these days. BB says we've got to get wireless in our next place!

New beginning

I worked all day today on a new first chapter for my book. This is something I have been trying to avoid for a long time. I knew I needed to start in a different way, but it was too hard to figure out how - especially since the story I'm telling is so complex in terms of who's who and what's what.

I still really like my original first chapter which began:

" When I think about finding my father, I don't think about it for long. It's too late, I think. It's too hard, hopeless, there's hardly anything to go on..."

My book is both a memoir and a journal of the search for my father, but I think starting with a journal entry about the search has been one of my problems - one of the reasons I haven't found an agent yet. Almost every memoir I've read recently begins with a scene & I knew that's what I needed, but, what scene to start with?

I decided to pull something out of the middle of the book and put it up front - which means I won't have to write something new, but I will have to go back to where that scene had been in the manuscript and reconfigure.

This is my new beginning:

"I am sitting at the kitchen table watching my mom make dinner. She's busy with something sizzling in a cast-iron frying pan - pork chops maybe, or pirogues with onions. Dressed in my blue plaid school uniform, I am absentmindedly dipping my finger into the sugar bowl and licking it clean."

I took this scene from my fifth chapter, rewrote it, added some new stuff, merged it with another scene from later in the book, added some more new stuff, and it all adds up to four sharp pages, but now what????

Now I have no transition between this and the next chapters. And it's really hard to figure out how to reveal the vital information that readers need in order to follow the story in a way that makes sense. It's a difficult puzzle.

Today was one of those writing days when I was so absorbed that hours went by like minutes. I did a lot of good work, but it took my WHOLE day. And it will take days and days and days like this if I'm ever going to get this thing finally finished.

Gran Torino

Our snowy weekend turned out to be as snowy as predicted, but we only played one game of scrabble (which I won) because BB discovered, and quickly became obsessed with, an online Texas Hold'em game. It's played on Facebook and it's just for fun (no money) but once she started playing, she couldn't quit.

We didn't leave the house until late on Sunday afternoon when we went to a movie. We went to see "Gran Torino," which was TERRIBLE. We picked this movie because it was filmed in Detroit, and also because it's currently one of the most popular movies in the country (it made 29 million dollars in 3 days.)

We went because we were interested in seeing familiar Detroit settings on the big screen, and because we figured it had to be a fairly decent movie with so many people going to see it, but we were wrong.

Gran Torino is badly written, cliche', contrived and predictable. All the characters are one dimensional, with bad actors portraying them. Clint Eastwood does his Dirty Harry grimmace, and the rest of the actors are on par with what you'd see in a high-school play. There is also a lot of spitting.

It just kills me that droves of people are going to see this, and that it's making millions of dollars. How can this be???? Is the taste of the average American really THAT bad?!

snow

Five to eight inches of snow are expected here today, so there's not much to do but hunker down for the duration. On days like this I'm really glad that I'm unemployed. Or rather somewhat sporadically employed. I do make a few bucks now and then, here and there. And I do work on my writing every day at home.

I recently sent off submissions to four literary journal contests, I'm working on some stories, some essays, and continue to revise the manuscript of my book and my query.

I've been able to concentrate on my work a lot better now that all the holidays are over, but it's Friday already, another week has flown, and here I am writing this instead of something I "should" be doing.

BB and I will most likely spend the snowy weekend playing lots of scrabble, reading, and maybe watching some movies.

getting the hang of this

Okay, so I guess I'm starting to get the hang of this. I've discovered some interesting blogs, put up some widgets, and even got my first "follower" (my lovely daughter-in-law.) But navigating around this Blogger world still seems pretty clunky to me. (Or am I just spoiled by Flickr?)

Doubt

We went to the movies last night and saw Doubt, which was excellent. One the best movies I've seen in a while. Wonderful writing, incredible acting. I remember being in NYC when it was playing on Broadway. We were seeing some shows but I completly ignored Doubt in spite of the fact that it had won a Pulitzer Prize, because who'd want to sit through two hours of nuns, priests, and child abuse? Not me. I felt the same way about the movie at first too, but with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and all the buzz, how could I miss it?

In addition to the great writing and acting, the details were amazing and really took me back. I went to grade school in a building exactly like the one in the movie. In that exact time period. And the film was much, much less of a downer than I thought it would be.

Other good movies I've seen lately include Milk and Rachel Getting Married. Movies that were also good, but slightly disappointing, are Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button. I also enjoyed Bolt.

some questions

So. Here's the thing... I'm still not completely clear about what I'm doing here. Is this just something meant to entertain myself, my family and friends, or should I be aiming my thoughts and observations at a larger audience?

I'm still not sure how this all works. It's not like Flickr where I can look at other people's work and comment upon it, or if it is like that then I haven't figured it out yet. I imagine there must be something like groups of bloggers interested in the same topics, but how do I find them? How do they find me?

It bugs me that we're living in a time when we're meant to learn new things intuitively, and no one bothers to write directions or instruction manuals anymore. I miss instruction manuals. Reading and comprehending instructions and directions was something I was good at; a valuable skill that's now almost completely obsolete.

In order to learn something new these days we're expected to spend a lot of time stumbling around until we figure things out for ourselves - which sometimes makes me feel like a lab rat in a maze. Or maybe I'm just guilty about the inordinate amount of time I've already spent fooling around online?