Rest in Peace Doris Day

As many already know, yesterday, Doris Day passed away at the age of 97. I was a big fan of her work as many were. She lived a long life and left behind such a glorious body of work.

I became a fan when I was a little girl. As I've mentioned here before, I used to spend many Saturday and Sunday afternoons especially, watching classic movies from Hollywood's golden era. I loved musicals especially and Doris Day's beautiful voice was front and center in so much that I loved.

I liked all of her films, but my favorite is Young at Heart, which also starred Frank Sinatra. It was beautifully shot and I love to catch it every time it's on television. If you'd like, please check out this clip from the end of the film here. It features Doris Day and Frank Sinatra singing together. It's a lovely end to a wonderful film.

Rest in peace to both of them...they left great contributions to film and to music behind for us to enjoy always.

Remembering Shirley Temple Black

 

Like many of you, I woke up this morning to the news that Shirley Temple has passed away at the age of 85. Her name was actually Shirley Temple Black as an adult, but the sweet name from her childhood sticks in my mind so much because I LOVED her movies when I was a child.

 

When I was a little girl I'd get up on weekend mornings and ask my mom if there were any Shirley Temple movies scheduled to be shown. My activities for the day often hinged upon whether or not one of her movies was going to be on that day :-)  That was a sweet and wonderful memory that crossed my mind this morning when I heard the news.

 

I have a lot of wonderful memories of singing and dancing along with Shirley Temple movies throughout my childhood. I didn't know it then, but those fun performances alongside the television shaped a lot of my love for all things creative. They helped me to dream and to express myself and that is why I remember Shirley and her films so fondly now as an adult. They fired my imagination so very much and for that I am grateful.

 

Farewell Shirley Temple and thank you....

An Escape From Plumbing Hell

Hi everyone. Brit Boy here just dropping by to make sure that everything is still tidy around the Yellow House :-) And also to give you all an update on what has been going on in the last few days.

We have spent most of the week, indeed most of the last month, waiting for our shower to be fixed. I mentioned over at my blog a few weeks ago, that the plumbing in the Yellow House leaves a bit to be desired, and yet again we have had issues with our electric shower. This is a shower that is only a few months old too, having been installed when the previous one fell into such disrepair that we were told we would be taking our lives in our hands if we used it!! The new shower worked fine for a while, but then a few weeks back the shower head started to fall apart every time we used it. So we replaced the head ourselves, at our own expense, only for the wall unit to the start gushing water from the bottom with next to no water now emanating from the head.

At this point our hearts sank. We knew that this meant dealing with the property agents, and through them with our landlord. Past experience has taught us that this would be a tortuous process, and indeed this time was no different. To cut a very, very long story short, I am now sat here four weeks later – yes you read that right FOUR weeks later – waiting in for the plumber to finally come and install a new electric shower. The list of excuses has been laughable, but at least something finally appears to be happening. What our phone bill will look like when it comes I dread to think as I have had to call the agents virtually every day to force them into some kind of action. Apathy doesn’t even begin to come close to describing their attitude.

Okay, sorry, rant over now! To take our minds off of our interminable plumbing woes, Dori and I decided to go to the movies this week. We are probably the last two people on the face of the earth to see Toy Story 3, and so that is what we plumped for. We apparently watched it in glorious 3D, but I have to say that I really didn’t see that. I guess the picture looked like it had a little more depth to it, but there wasn’t enough of a difference to me to warrant an extra £1.50 on the ticket price. Anyway, that being said, we had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the film. We even had a KFC beforehand. Don’t tell me we don’t know how to live the high life!! :-)

Oh, and one last thing before I go. I want to wish Dori a very Happy Anniversary!! It isn’t our wedding anniversary, but the day of another important event – one that changed the course of both of our lives. I will leave it to Dori to tell you what that is, if she so wishes, when she returns.

Have a great weekend everybody!

In Tribute to Lena Horne

Today I'd like to pay tribute to a lady that I’ve admired for a great portion of my life…Ms. Lena Horne. She passed away yesterday in New York at the age of 92.

 

When I was a little girl, I loved spending my Sundays watching the classic movies on television, especially musicals, from the golden age of Hollywood. I would watch and be transported to another world of beauty, make-believe, and elegance. I imagined myself dancing around with Fred Astaire or making an entrance like the great Bette Davis. I was absorbed into that world and it was part of my 'play' when I was growing up. It fueled my imagination. Then one day, I saw her…Lena Horne, and I was a fan from that moment on (smile). There she was…elegant and beautiful and talented. She could do something that I wanted to do so much…she could sing! And she got to wear beautiful clothes while doing it…hey, I was a baby fashionista back then (smile). 

When I saw Ms. Horne, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lady that looked like she could be a relative. I had always watched all of the MGM musicals and various movies and loved them no matter who was starring in them. But it was a revelation in my young life then to see this beautiful, talented lady on film who looked like me. She was rare then, as the first black performer to be signed to a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. So she was not only talented…she was a trailblazer too. Sadly though, she was held back in the 1940s, because of the color of her skin. She would perform one or two songs in various MGM movies that could be easily edited out of the film in order for it to be played in certain areas. What garbage I say! I should use the other word I thought of. LOL. Anyway, she had two movies where she was given the spotlight that she deserved, in 1943, with all-black casts. 

She made “Cabin in the Sky” for MGM and was loaned to 20th Century Fox for my favorite, “Stormy Weather”. And one of her signature songs was the beautiful “Stormy Weather” that she sang in the film. Please take a look at her performance here. So no matter what she had to deal with, she is still going to be remembered always, and she triumphed despite the odds. I love that! I feel like watching “Stormy Weather” right now. I’m going to have to buy a copy somewhere (smile). Besides her movie career, she was a very popular singer in elegant clubs, onstage, and on many recordings. In 1981, she was the toast of Broadway with her one woman show, “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music” , for which she won a Tony Award.

 

I wanted to go to see her onstage back then, but I was a young teen who couldn’t be out on a school night (smile) and I didn’t have the money to go to New York. This was the time in my life when I couldn’t wait to be grown, so I could just go where I wanted, when I wanted. Of course I learned later, like we all do, that we shouldn’t rush growing up. But it was still fun to fantasize (smile). I grew up as a typical child and teen of the 70s and 80s, with lots of love for my faves of those days…like Michael Jackson, Prince, and Madonna…just like a lot of kids my age. However, I also had lots of love for the ladies and gents who paved the way in those early days, not just as entertainers, but also as important threads in the tapestry of the American culture. They made change in their own way.

 

           Photo credit: Garth Vaughan/AP 

                                                       

Lena Horne was a great performer, a trailblazer, and a civil rights activist also. I honor her memory today. Rest in peace…Ms. Horne. Thank you for shining your light in this world!

A Sunset and A Viewing Sunday

We had a nice quiet weekend around the Yellow House and sometimes that’s just what you need :-) Brit Boy did his Saturday cooking and I just loved that ;-) On Saturday evening we worked on a little project that we’ve been working on…more about that in the future :-) And then on Sunday we just took it easy on the couch. We also enjoyed a beautiful scene like this as the sun went down.




We usually have our DVD time on Sundays. We will sometimes watch a movie, but usually we watch a couple of TV shows we like on DVD. This started out as our West Wing DVD Sundays, but now they are The Waltons and West Wing Sundays :-)

Brit Boy is a full-on West Wing fan and has all the seasons on DVD. We’ve had the final season for a while, but have only recently started to watch it. Brit Boy wanted to savor it so we’ve delayed it a bit and watched the previous season again. This was good because in the past I was an in and out West Wing fan before, but now I’m all in :-) So this way I can catch up and follow the stories better.

I mentioned The Waltons. Well, Brit Boy bought me the first season DVD set of this a couple of Christmases ago. I’ve always been a fan of this show since I saw it as a little kid. Some people make jokes about this show, but I don’t mind. I love it. I love it because it reminds me in many ways of my own growing up and I loved that John Boy was a writer. The Walton family had seven kids and I was one of seven kids and their gently simple rural life reflected parts of my own. So whenever I watch this show it instantly takes me back to a time and place that is long gone now, but through this show I hear echoes of my life as a child with my parents :-) This way, how I grew up is never far away. I grew up decades after the times that this show is set in, but the story of family goes on forever.

Interestingly enough, Brit Boy likes watching too and I was a bit surprised by that in the beginning. However, I realized that even though he grew up across the ocean from me, the ties of family and tradition and nostalgia are universal. It’s like they say, we are often more alike than we are different.

So we watched an episode of The Waltons and then we watched an episode of The West Wing and it was great. We had a snack and I kept wishing that we still had a couple of slices of that cake that I made last week :-)

We had every kind of weather yesterday...we had rain, wind, and then a glorious blue sky in the afternoon. And that gave way to some amazing clouds that were lit up orange by the setting sun. Brit Boy and I just stood at the window and watched the show :-) We were mesmerized.

A July Saturday

I haven’t posted in a few days. I’ve been working on my homework assignments for my course in feature and freelance writing. I’ve completed my latest assignment, so I just wanted to take a moment to check in and let you all know that I’m not abandoning my blog (smile) I’m just having to learn how to schedule it all together better. I think I’ve hit upon a plan so that I can post more.

As for what I’ve been up to, well I’m sort of chilling today and enjoying the nice weather. This is the first sunny day we’ve had in a while, so I’m lapping it up. (smile) Today is Brit Boy’s day to cook, so I really love that. (bigger smile)

Earlier we watched this movie called, “They Came From Beyond Space”. It was originally released in 1967. It was about alien goings-on in rural England, so when I saw that in the description, I figured I had to see it. (smile) It turned out to be a wonderfully quirky film and Brit Boy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s so good to have a husband that understands my love of quirky movies and things like this. But here’s the thing….he understands because he is very much like that too. We love a bit of the surreal. (smile)

Right now we’re watching this show called “Creature Comforts”. It’s a cute clay animation type show. There are these talking animals that make you laugh because they say things that humans would. I love stuff like this.

So I guess you can tell what our Saturday is about this week…kicking back. (smile) I love weekends like this when you can just do what you want, even if that’s doing nothing at all. Ain’t life grand!

As I mentioned earlier, I’m learning about balance in getting my homework done and getting my blogging done and then living the rest of my life. So today’s activities are the ones that I put into that living my life box. I think I’m gonna do okay. Have a great weekend! :-)

Star Trek

I just wanted to do a really short post about the movie Star Trek. We went to see it on Tuesday and I'm still talking about it. LOL. It was GREAT!!!!! Loved it!!!! Brit Boy posted about it earlier in the week, so I'll just say ditto to everything he said. LOL. The theatre was pretty full for a weekday afternoon, so we sat closer than we would have normally, but it made it even more exciting. It felt like we were inside the film at some points. I'm afraid of heights and there's one point in the movie where there's a fight and I kept thinking..."go inside and fight so I don't have to wince at the height"...that's all I'll say so I won't ruin it for those who haven't seen it. (smile) I don't want to say too much about it. I will say that I used to watch the original series of Star Trek and I've seen the other films, but I was never a fanatic about it. I loved it all, but Brit Boy was a bigger fan than I was, until now. LOL. This new film was just great. We are gonna have to go see it again. So for all of you ladies out there who may or may not be into Star Trek, let me just say, it converted me quickly. LOL. Enjoy if you decide to go!

Back On Track Tuesday

Brit Boy went back to work today. Yesterday was a bank holiday here, so we had one more day to hang out. We watched a couple of movies and just relaxed around home. Speaking of movies, we have some buy one get one free tickets that we're having to use up before June, so we’re so excited to see the new Star Trek movie and Angels & Demons. We saw The Uninvited last week and it was pretty good. It had a twist at the end and it was kinda spooky. The thing that really stuck with me though was the beautiful house that this family lived in. The house was on the edge of a lake and it just looked so peaceful. Loved it! (smile) I love movies and so does Brit Boy, but lately I’ve been really into enjoying movies while I check out the house in the background. (smile) Guess I’m looking forward to our future house.

Anyway, around the yellow house, I’m just getting back into my groove after my little break with Brit Boy. First thing this morning, it kind of looked like we’d had a party all week, so I had to straighten things up a bit and get some laundry done. I also got back on my exercise again. I hadn’t worked out in over a week so I needed to get back in the groove. I’m trying to take better care of myself these days. (smile)

And then, once I got the household engines running again, I sat down with my laptop. I’m here typing out this blog entry on one screen and I’m working on my other writing on another. I’ve decided to get back on track with this part of my life too…writing. I neglect it sometimes and when I do, I feel like something’s missing. So I’m going to get more focused upon doing the writing that I love in hopes that one day someone else will read it. (smile) Stay tuned.

So today is a getting back on track day…Happy Tuesday! :-)

Spring-like Weekend Viewing

I had a nice weekend. It was rather spring-like and it was so good to see the sun. (smile) The hubby and I hung out around home mostly. We went into town on Saturday to pick up a few things. We hadn’t been to town in a while. It was good to see what was going on locally. Then we came back home and hung out some more.

On Sunday, we continued our hang out fest. The weather just kept getting better and we both couldn’t believe how it lifts the spirits. In the afternoon we decided to watch a movie, a retro movie that I’ve always wanted to see, but never got around to. It was “The Eyes of Laura Mars” with Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones from 1978. It was just one of those movies that I would see listed over the years on TV, and wondered about. I remember seeing it advertised when I was a kid. So I was intrigued. (smile) Anyway, we enjoyed it quite a lot. It was very 70’s and very hip for the times. It was good in a campy, wonderful way. If you haven’t seen it, it was about a photographer who sees crimes committed in visions, as if she is seeing through the killer’s eyes. What really intrigued me though was the soundtrack. I remember my older sister playing many of those songs on the stereo when I was growing up. So it was a cool blast from the past. (smile) Brit Boy and I danced along when every song came up. LOL.

Later, on Sunday evening, we watched something really great on the BBC called “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”. It is a BBC and HBO co-production and will be shown here and back home in the US. It is brilliant and stars the radiant Jill Scott in the lead as detective Mma Precious Ramotswe. She brings such true warmth and spirit to this role and I just love this series. Jill Scott is already one of my favorite singers and now she is proving herself as a wonderful actress. Her singing voice reminds me of warm honey…so full and divine.

The series is based on the novels by Alexander McCall Smith, about the lady detective and her assistant, played by Tony award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose. It is set in Botswana and gives a fresh view of the continent of Africa. It has a wonderful vibe and both Hubby and I just love it. The series continues over five more episodes. A previous one-off episode was shown around Easter here last year and it was a great success. So I was so glad to hear that they were making more of these stories.

As I mentioned, it is being shown here on the BBC and back home on HBO, so if you get the chance, please check it out.

All in all, the weekend was a great preview of spring and we got to see some good TV :-)

I'm Vertical Again

Hi there :-) Well, I took my much needed rest since I posted here last and many days before that when I was AWOL from here, and now I’m doing better. Brit Boy is fine too. Thank you to all of you who came by here to offer your get well wishes…Brit Boy and I really appreciate it. We are getting back into life after what seems like an eternity lying horizontal :-) In all, we were sick for about eight days, give or take a day. We don’t know who had the cooties first since we started to feel sick the same day :-) I haven't said "cooties" in years. LOL. It was yucky though…ugh. We’re just glad we are feeling better. We took the time we needed to rest and even though we were nauseous most of the time, it was just nice to slow down anyway :-) While we were stuck horizontal we talked about how we humans don’t realize we are rushing so much through life until we are forced to slow down. What a lesson that is :-) Anyway, enough sick talk.

I’m playing catch up here a bit today. Ah, let’s see…oh, our Valentine’s Day was good. We were sick and there were no flowers or candy this year, but it was just nice to have our romantic sick-fest together…hey, we’re easily amused ;-) We both said that there’s nobody we’d rather be sick with…now that’s true love :-) I know, enough already, right? Anyway, we watched movies and had a good day.

While I was lying around, I did finish one of my books that I’ve been reading. It was The Legs Are The Last To Go by Diahann Carroll. It was really a good read. I love biographies and autobiographies, so this was right up my alley. I always like to read how others, especially my elders, have persevered in their lives despite it being an uphill battle. Ms. Carroll has indeed led a wonderful life. Her accounts of her days in Hollywood, on Broadway and in the music world are truly intriguing. The list of people that she has known and/or worked with reads like a who’s who of the 20th century. I have always thought that she was one of the truly elegant ladies of our time and through the photos you see that she has truly been a beauty from the early days of her career over fifty years ago. There are also tales she tells of tough times, which ring true, because what life goes unscathed.

Besides her obvious beauty and elegance, you also get to see a woman who was intent upon showing her talent and fighting for equality. Ms. Carroll was a trailblazer along with others like Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, and so many more who paved the way in popular culture and in many other ways. I honor them all. They make me stand taller as a woman when I think of what they have gone through before me. They, like my own ancestors, light my path everyday. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I believe it will stay with me for a long while. What a gift :-)

Christmas Countdown Continues

Our countdown to Christmas continues… We ended up not going to Salisbury Cathedral for the carol service this year. We had planned on going, but in the past few days we have been having plumbing problems and we were waiting around for the plumber to let us know when he was coming. It was kind of up in the air. Also, Brit Boy was finishing up his studying, and that was most important for him to finish, so it was a nice weekend around home.

Our shower has been working and then not working. We get scalded one moment and then we freeze the next and it is just all messed up. Sometimes it decides to be merely a trickle, so it's time they finally authorized a repair. We have had a leak also. It’s been really fun ;-) Thankfully the plumber is going to pay us a visit today. Woo Hoo!!!!! That’s our Christmas present for sure :-)

Since we couldn’t venture too far away, we ended up just chilling out around home. Periodically, Brit Boy took breaks from his studying and we watched Christmas movies or watched music videos on television while we danced around. We enjoyed those study breaks! We love to do our freestyle dancing and then we dance together all elegant…it’s funny. Then I do my Beyonce dance :-)

Later in the afternoon on Monday, Brit Boy finished his final paper and turned it in. And as a bonus, we got our call from the plumber soon after so the day turned out good in the end. We were free to head out. We went into town to pick up some ingredients for my baking and for our Christmas Eve nibbles. We fully expected the crowd that met us, but it was wild in there!!!! :-) We bought my baking ingredients, and some cheese and dips and veggies for our Christmas Eve hanging out. Then I saw them and I was in love ……







These cute little journals/notebooks are my new favorite thing. Usually I always take a detour to the stationery aisles wherever I am. I love pens and journals and notebooks…gotta do the writing thing :-) But I haven’t hit pay dirt like this in a long time. These lovely little books are made of recycled materials, so that’s very good. I just love that the outside and inside are very organic-looking with a bit of flower power on the outside :-) The lady at the checkout was oohing and ahhing over them too, so I wasn’t alone in my love. The best part is that they were on sale. I got two of these mid-size books for £1.75!!!! So a deal on top of everything . Yay!!!! Okay, enough of this notebook swooning! :)

When we got home, I figured that I should go ahead and do the baking so I wouldn’t be rushed. But mostly though, we were just greedy and ready to eat. LOL. I decided to bake us a batch of red velvet cupcakes like I did back in the spring, but with these I sprinkled them a bit to add a festive flair.





We stuffed our faces with a couple after they cooled off and I iced them :-) And then today, we have had one…they seem to get better, like most things after they get a chance to sit. So we are happy people right now with cake in the house :-)

Oh, an update on our shower problems. The plumbers arrived as I was writing this. They just left and they said that we need a new shower. They patched up the leak, so that’s good. I guess that after Christmas when they get the order in, we will get fixed up. So it’s very dodgy showers for a bit longer :-) It's all good though. No sense in sweating it. Hopefully Santa will bring us a new shower for after Christmas.

Anyway, we plan to enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve tomorrow with a few drinks, some finger foods, and cake…what could be better! :-) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

We Saw "The Secret Life of Bees"

Last night, Brit Boy and I went to the movies. The movie “The Secret Life of Bees” was finally released here in the UK, so we decided to go check it out. We loved it so much. The acting in this movie was superb. It was a beautifully down-to-earth movie and was just great because it kept reminding me of the house and surroundings that I grew up in. It reminded me of home. The movie was set in 1964 during turbulent times in America. And even though the movie was set in a time before I was born, it still evoked memories of my roots and for me, it showed the triumph of the human spirit.

The house in the movie wasn’t exactly like ours, but the characters sitting on the porch reminded me so much of how I grew up. Afterwards, Brit Boy even remarked that the porch had reminded him of sitting on the porch back home. It was funny…during the movie I kept thinking, "we had that piece of furniture and that one", as they showed the inside of the house. Then when Brit Boy and I were talking about the movie afterwards he said he thought the same thing about the house. It was like looking at a part of my own ancestry through that fictional house and the things inside of it.

I’ve read a few very arrogant, and condescending reviews of this film, but here’s the thing…the critics like what they like and I like what I like and then I go and see what I want and Brit Boy and I never go by what the critics say anyway. Everything isn’t everybody’s cup of tea and that’s fine. But that’s no reason to look down on it and be paid by some newspaper to call it a dreary “chick flick”. Whatever……

Some have said it’s a fairy tale because it was set during the time of the Civil Rights Movement and yet it comes off unrealistic. Well, the way I see it is that it showed some of the brutality of the time and a lot of us know the story of what that time was like. And for those who don’t know, there are many ways to find out. Every single thing didn’t have to happen in this one movie. I think that the story showed the perseverance of people during that time in our history, who were beat down like the character Rosaleen, and still got back up and did what they had to do, and in her case, she registered to vote. This movie was about relationships. These three sisters and Rosaleen were there to mother this 14 year old girl and to guide her to maturity. The story in this movie was told in a whisper, not with an iron fist. It nudged us along to see things clearer and sometimes that is a good way to get a message.

And at the end of the day, I don’t see anything wrong with a movie showing the beauty of life, even in the midst of hard times. The bond between the Boatwright sisters and what they shared with those who came to join them, is what holds the world together…and that is people caring for each other in simple everyday ways. This movie was so beautifully shot and the story was so life-affirming that I can’t stop thinking about it. I think that it was a beautiful walk down memory lane for me and I’m glad I took that walk.

I thought that it was nice just to see a movie that made me feel good…that made me possibly remember parts of myself and showed me that there is one thing that we can “choose” to always have no matter what and that is hope.

A Movie Sunday

I just wanted to drop in and say hello. I've been taking it easy and enjoying the weekend. On Thursday, we had our Thanksgiving dinner and it turned out really great. I surprised myself...everything turned out really great, like someone else had cooked it. LOL. I will share a bit more about this later in the week. On Friday, even though it isn't called Black Friday over here, we did go out and finished all of our Christmas shopping. We missed most of the crowds since most people were not off work. Brit Boy took the day off. There were lots of sales going on, so we got some good deals on some modest gifts. A sign of the times, but it was really nice and simple...the way I like it :-)

Today, Brit Boy is downstairs watching his sports and I'm upstairs watching one of my favorite films.... "Tootsie". I love it because it is definitely of a certain time period and it once again takes me down nostalgia alley just like "last weekend". I guess it's a phase. The end of the year always gets me nostalgic. When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do on Sunday was to watch movies...the more retro the better :)

Brit Boy and I have already had leftovers from Thanksgiving to eat for early dinner. So I'm free of cooking today. Woo Hoo! LOL. After I finish watching "Tootsie", I may watch a DVD or something. I really love Sundays. Have a great rest of the weekend! :)

Paul Newman

I was saddened to hear yesterday, when we returned from town, that Paul Newman had passed away. Although I knew he had cancer, it still made me pause when I heard it on the news. A wonderful man.

When I was a kid, I used to spend a portion of Sunday afternoons watching movies from decades past which just fed my imagination. I was probably the only kid in my fourth grade class who could rattle off the names of movie idols of the 40s, 50s, and 60s like I was talking about the latest teen idol. :-) I adored the musicals especially. I just loved it all.

I watched many Paul Newman movies over the years. He was one of my favorites. He was at his beautiful best, I think, in “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” in 1958. He played so many great roles in his lifetime. However, I think that my favorite is a film that he did with my other childhood crush, Sidney Poitier, called “Paris Blues” in 1961. I saw this movie for the first time when I was a young girl and still to this day, it is one of my favorites. Newman and Poitier play expat jazz musicians living in Paris. The movie also stars Newman’s real life wife, Joanne Woodward as his love interest, and Diahann Carroll as Poitier’s love interest. The movie just has a great swanky feel to it.

Paul Newman will be remembered forever, by those who love his work, whenever we see “The Sting” or “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or the many other films he starred in.

Besides his acting, I will also fondly remember him for his "Newman’s Own" food products. He gave all of the proceeds from his products to charity. I heard him say in a quote that he had been so lucky in his life, and some others didn’t have that luck, so he felt that it was up to those who have been lucky to help out those who weren’t so lucky. What a great legacy he leaves behind.

Bournemouth, More Movies, and Lash Rescue

Yesterday Brit Boy and I had a date in the afternoon. As I mentioned before, he is on vacation for a few days and so we are doing our best to make good use of this time together. Of course the weather has decided to not cooperate with us, so we haven’t been able to go to Bournemouth to the beach like we had hoped yet, but maybe we will get a day of sun soon. Bournemouth is lovely. It’s a beautiful seaside town. According to their website, they are the greenest town in the South of England and apparently very happy folks according to a survey. Well, I can only speak as a visitor down there, but I think that I would be pretty happy if I lived down there. It has an easy feel to it and there is just something about the seaside. (smile) So I hope that the rain goes away in the next couple of days and we can get down there to soak up the green and some of the happiness.

So since Brit Boy and I can’t get to the beach, we have stayed closer to home. We went into town yesterday. We are becoming regular townies at this point. Wow! (laugh) Anyway, we went to the movies to see “Hancock” starring Will Smith. When we got there, the cinema was packed. I told Brit Boy that I never knew that that many people lived around here. It was a Tuesday afternoon, but it looked like a Saturday in a much bigger town. It was wild. The queue was almost out the door. We decided though that a few things had created this perfect storm of the throngs of moviegoers. The kids are out of school, it was a rainy day, and Tuesday afternoons are discounted. But it was all good. The queue moved fairly quickly and we got seats so we were happy. It was a fun time.

Before we went in to get our seats, we made a stop at the concession stand. Neither one of us had eaten anything much, so we loaded up. Each of us had a hotdog and a drink and a small popcorn. We didn’t share a popcorn because Brit Boy likes sweet popcorn and I like salty popcorn.

We found this out the first time we went to the movies here in the UK together. We got a popcorn tub together and were ready to share. Then I grabbed a handful and said, “Why is it sweet?” It looked like it was salted popcorn. This was one of those funny little cultural things. When we were in the lobby, there wasn’t a sign that said, “Salty popcorn here” and “Sweet popcorn here”. So how was I to know. And sweet was normal for Brit Boy and salty was normal to me, so we got our wires crossed and since we all come from our own experiences, it didn’t cross our minds, for Brit Boy to ask me or for me to ask him. It was funny and we laughed about it. It was no big thing. These things have happened from time to time between us in the past and we just see it as very cool that we get to learn about another culture through the person that we love most. This is one of the things that I love about living in another country at this point in my life…I get the opportunity most days to see the world in another way. So since then, we each get a small popcorn of our own, but we share our nachos and we like that. (wink)

So we went in to sit down and thoroughly enjoyed our hotdogs and drinks. Those hotdogs were really good. Then the movie started. I have read good and bad reviews of “Hancock”, but then we never follow reviews and just see what we like. Brit Boy and I like Will Smith movies and we really enjoyed him at the Mandela concert we went to, so we figured we would check out his movie.

We really enjoyed “Hancock”. It was laugh out loud funny to us many times just because his character said what he felt like. It was funny to see someone say the things that a lot of us wish that we could say when we get ticked off in life and we refrain from doing so. And deep down his character was a good guy. It was just a great laugh and a good way to spend a couple of hours on a Tuesday afternoon.

Oh, by the way, I did finally get my waterproof mascara remover. When we went around the corner from the cinema, we popped into the pharmacy and I got my lash rescue finally. (smile) I used my store points and didn’t have to pay anything for it, so I was able to rescue my eyelashes and not spend a cent.

Mascara and Movie Love

My weekend was pretty laid back. Brit Boy is on holiday/vacation for a few days, so we are having a chance to spend some quality time together. On Saturday, we had a bit of a lie-in and then got up at about 10am and decided to go into town. We haven’t been into town since I stopped going to have acupuncture a few weeks ago. I stopped by Karen’s acupuncture shop to say hello to my new friend. She was doing fine.

Brit Boy and I went into town to pick up a few things that we had been wanting and also to get a newspaper. I had the thought that I loved going to acupuncture in the past because of how it restored me, but it was nice to go into town and be able to put on makeup and do something to my hair. When I used to go in for acupuncture, I didn’t bother with doing much to my hair and just pulled it back. And makeup wouldn’t have survived since I spent nearly the whole acupuncture session with my face pressed into the opening in the table. I don’t wear much makeup anyway, but the first time I went to get treated, I wore a bit of eye shadow and blush and when I got up from the table, the paper was smeared with the imprint of my face. It was like looking at my face staring right back at me. (laugh) So Saturday was my first venture into town with a bit of makeup. It was another sign to me that I am healed.

We went into town in search of various things. I wanted to get a proper pizza pan, because we have been putting frozen pizzas on a rectangular cookie sheet forever, but it always leads to one half of the pizza getting overly brown and the toppings slide to one side. It just doesn’t work out right. Also, I am going to try my hand at making a homemade pizza soon, so I want to give an authentic round pizza pan a try. We found one at a discount store, so that was a good find. I have also been looking for a particular mascara by Covergirl that is supposed to be amazingly durable and waterproof and doesn’t clump. But alas, I have found out that I can’t get Covergirl products in the UK. So I put that search aside for the day.

I bought a lottery scratch off ticket and won £2 on it and that was cool because the ticket originally cost £2. So it was a win-win. (smile) Then Brit Boy and I have both been wanting to get the new “Now 70” CD which has a lot of the current hits on it. We searched a couple of different stores to get the best price. While we were on our CD search, we also came across two other great compilations. We bought a compilation of 80s hits and one of 90s hits. When we were in the store, I had one in my hand and Brit Boy had the other one and we volleyed back and forth reading out the hits that we remembered from back in the day. It was great. (smile) Ahh, the good old days! That is one thing that I love about the music stores here, they just have loads of compilations on offer. The 80s CD is three CDs long and the 90s one is five CDs in total and they were around £5 each, so they were a great bargain and we got lots of music.

On Sunday we had another lie-in and then got up and had breakfast. We had seen a combination printer, copier, scanner in town on Saturday for a mere £25 and so we decided to go back into town to pick one up. The price was too good to be true. We didn’t get it on Saturday, because we forgot to stop back by and pick it up. It was a good thing that we went back when we did, because when we got there, the pile of about twenty from the day before had been reduced to five. So we got one. I have been in love also with these cheap ergonomic pens that I have been using and thought that I would pick up some more for us. They were cheap when I got my first two when I was trying them out. Well, this time we really got a deal and got ten ergonomic pens for £4.95, which is a good deal since they are very comfortable to the hand and write smoothly. So Brit Boy and I will be writing with those pens for years.

I ended up getting some mascara finally. As I mentioned, I can’t get Covergirl products here, so I got a comparable one that was waterproof. And here’s the kicker, yeah, it works really well because I can’t get the stuff off now. (laugh) Well at least I have long, full lashes. Note to self: Get some proper mascara remover the next time I am out before my lashes fall out. In the end though, we had a great rare weekend of shopping and we did it in wonderfully discounted style. It was fun to save a pound or two.

On the way home from town, we decided to find this car park/parking lot that we noticed the other day when we were sitting on the train, getting ready to head into London. We both had never noticed it before since we usually board from another platform. So we did a bit of detective work and did locate this secluded little parking place that is adjacent to the train station. Brit Boy has lived here his whole life and had never noticed it. The place is rather hidden from view, but is very convenient. So we were excited to find it. Hey, we are easily amused. (laugh)

We got home and I made some dinner. While it was in the oven, we watched the movie “Stepmom” with Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts. It was just starting when we turned on the TV. I love this movie and I have watched it many times. Brit Boy had never seen it. It was a good movie for a Sunday afternoon even though it is sad, but it does have uplifting bits to it about going on in life.

After the movie, I did what I do a lot now. If I am loving the locations in a movie, I will look online and try to find out where the movie was filmed. Brit Boy and I simply loved Susan Sarandon’s house in the movie. It was a gorgeous old two story house with a wraparound porch. I found out that much of the film was filmed in New York state and New Jersey. Brit Boy is now really feeling some love for the suburban beauty of New Jersey. (smile) Me too. I have a friend who is going to be moving there next year, so I told him that when we go visit her after she gets settled, we can go give some love to New York and New Jersey.

Baking With Brit Boy

My weekend was nice. We had some wonderfully warm, sunny weather here and Brit Boy and I were thrilled. We haven’t had much summery weather this year here, so we are overjoyed when we can get any. Even this morning it is quite warm and bordering on hot here, so it is great.

We ventured into town on Saturday to find new pillows for our bed. Our pillows had become rather worn down. They were made with this anti-allergy covering on them and after a while it had become fuzzy and shed this white fuzzy stuff, so we decided to get new pillows. We found some new pillows that don’t have that anti-allergy covering and they are quite comfortable. I still like the idea of the anti-allergy bed things, but the pillows that we had were just not very well made. I have had anti-allergy pillows before in my life that were fine, so we just simply had a couple of duds. (smile) I like our new pillows though and I think that we are already sleeping better just a couple of nights later.

On Saturday night, we watched “Inspector Morse”, which is a favorite mystery show that Brit Boy and I both enjoy. In fact, I used to watch “Inspector Morse” back home in the US years ago, before I ever knew Brit Boy. And unbeknownst to me, he was over here in Britain being a fan too. Who knew? (smile) The show ended a while back, but is still shown in re-runs. Then after that, we watched, the movie, “The Shining”, which is a favorite of ours.

On Sunday, we hung out around home and enjoyed the sunshine out in the back yard. We watched TV and just chilled out. Brit Boy is finished with his school for the summer, so we took full advantage of school being out for him, by relaxing on the couch. We plan to do more outings now that he has a break from school, but this weekend we just took a breather and chilled on the sofa. We just hope that the weather continues to be nice. We are hoping to get a couple of trips to the beach in as well as having some daytrips. Running around Wiltshire and the Cotswolds should be fun if the weather stays nice. I will share any photos that I take here on my blog. So watch this space. (smile)

Anyway, later on Sunday, long after we had had dinner, we both got a taste for something snacky…preferably cake or cookies. We didn’t have anything ready-made, so we decided to make something from scratch using what we had in our cupboards. Here’s the funny bit, we started out using a recipe for chocolate cookies, but it didn’t look right, so I just kept adding flour and brown sugar whilst Brit Boy handled the mixer. Brit Boy was really into it. He likes mixing things. (smile) Then I pulled out the muffin tin and we ended up making chocolate cupcakes/muffins that were very tasty. We didn’t have a lot of cocoa left to put into the bowl, so the cakes turned out sort of milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate, but they tasted so good. So leave it to us to use a dark chocolate cookie recipe in the beginning and come out with a milk chocolate cupcake/muffin in the end. (laugh)

Here’s a photo of our yummy cake. The top of the cake here looks darker, but inside the cake is very light and milk chocolate- looking, but either way they were good. We were gluttons and ate three a piece at about 9:30pm last night. (laugh) So I took this photo before they are all gone.

My Wannabe Actress Days & Judging Amy

I am a great fan of the television show from back home called, “Judging Amy” starring Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly, as a mother and daughter who live together. Amy Brenneman’s character is called Amy Gray, who is a juvenile court judge, who has moved back in with her mother after divorcing and is raising her young daughter Lauren. Tyne Daly’s character is Maxine Gray, a social worker that is thoroughly dedicated to her work in saving children from bad homes and situations.

I used to always love this show back home when it was shown on TV from 1999 to 2005. I watched it every week. I would get home from a hard day’s work and a long commute from Atlanta and then sit down to watch it in the evenings. My mom was a big fan of the show too. So when I found that they show it on cable here in England, I started watching it again.

Brit Boy had never watched the show before, but he started watching it with me when he got home from work and very quickly became hooked on the show like me. The show is basically about Amy, her daughter Lauren, and the mother/grandmother Maxine who live together in the house where Amy grew up. But the show also does a great job at showing truthful family dynamics as they bring Amy’s brothers Peter and Vincent into the story, along with Peter’s wife Gillian and their son. So the show meanders through all of their lives and relationships and then couples their home lives with Maxine and Amy’s work lives, as a social worker and judge. A lot of the time there is an issue that comes up in Amy’s court room that mirrors her own life in some way or her relationship with her family. The transitions are just seamless and I often can relate to her and the universal things we all go through in our families. Brit Boy and I always say that it was one of the most well-written shows on TV. While the show was on the air, it won many accolades from the TV industry as well as respect from those who work with childrens’ issues in real life.

The only problem though is that Brit Boy and I can’t find it on DVD anywhere. It is hard to come by and we always halfway joke that we are going to start a campaign to get it on DVD. (smile) Also the channel that we watch it on here, seems to get to a certain point with the different years of the show and then stops abruptly and doesn’t finish the series of all the years. So we just hope that one day they will make all the years of the show available on DVD, so that we can relive them and Brit Boy can finally see them all like I have.

I do have a connection with two people from this show, but only vaguely. Many years ago, when I was a very young, bright-eyed girl, I did some work as an extra in movies and commercials. It was a great way to make extra spending money and I thought I might want to be an actress back then. (smile) Not anymore though. Anyway, once I did an extra part in an airline commercial and that same year I did a part as an extra in a TV movie.

Well the TV movie, starred none other than Tyne Daly who was Maxine years later on in “Judging Amy”. The movie also starred Richard Crenna who played Maxine’s boyfriend on “Judging Amy” for a while. The movie was called “Kids Like These”. Parts of it were being shot in Atlanta, so I was able to participate. In the movie Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna played a husband and wife who had a Down Syndrome child. I just remember both Tyne Daly and Richard Crenna to be very pleasant people and great professionals about their work. They were great to watch together. Richard Crenna sadly, passed away in 2003, during the time that he was on "Judging Amy".

So every time I see them together on “Judging Amy”, I tell Brit Boy that I have to watch my “co-stars”. (laugh) Yeah, right, I wish…but being an extra was great fun too.

The Weekend and Scary Fun

This past weekend was beautifully normal and quiet, which was good. It is great to get a breather sometimes. On Saturday, I went into town to have my last acupuncture appointment for a while. My back has been steadily improving, so I am going to stop the appointments for now. I am feeling pretty great. Also we need to cut back on things financially, especially since we are trying to rebound from our addiction to concerts. (laugh) I am doing fine though, so it’s all good.

I realized that it was nearly a year to the day that I first started on my journey with acupuncture. The first day that I walked in there, I was hardly walking at all. Brit Boy and I had a car accident at the end of 2006 and I was increasingly walking slower and slower, with lots of pain. I sought out traditional treatments also, but it took me a while to get in to see someone sadly, so things sort of deteriorated quickly. Thankfully I finally got in to see a physical therapist and I saw a chiropractor for a while. I was in the middle of my waiting around to be seen by someone and just happened to be peering into the window of the acupuncture shop. Karen approached me and I must say, I am grateful that she did. I shuffled into her shop a year ago, with not much hope that I would ever be myself again, and on this past Saturday, I walked out of there with a stronger back, a stronger spirit, a stronger body, and a new friend. I will definitely be dropping by there every time I am in town. As an expat you learn that you have to pull in every opportunity for friendship with open arms. (smile) I told her that I will drop by and pick up some advice from her on taking care of myself, so she will still see my face around there.

Karen didn’t do the actual placing of the needles, because Ta did that, but Karen offered a valuable piece of the healing too. She offered me the kind words that I craved when I was having such bouts of loneliness here, coupled with physical pain, and the only person I knew here was my Brit Boy. We shared stories of what life is like when you are trying to make a life in a new country. And sometimes, she was just a knowledgeable friend who helped me forget my worries. When I left her shop on Saturday, I hugged her. It felt so natural and she hugged me back. It wasn’t a shop owner and a patron hugging, it was simply two friends being friends. (smile)

After I left Karen’s acupuncture shop and found Brit Boy, we did our errands. They were having an Italian Market this weekend. A few months ago, they had a French Market where I sampled the French prawnies, but this time I didn’t get anything. The weather was a lot better for this market in comparison to the French one. During the French Market, it was freezing cold, but during the market on Saturday the weather was okay. I love these markets though, because they bring a bit of the tastes of continental Europe to our neck of the woods and it brings nice variety.

As we traveled home from town later, we came the back way home and it takes us through some of the most beautiful Wiltshire countryside. We could see that there was a storm brewing and it seemed to be following us home to our little village. I looked off into the distance, across the valley and I saw a huge black cloud hanging over town. It was an awesome sight to see the rain coming down back where we had come from, miles away, and we were riding along in partial sunshine. It was one of those beautiful nature moments that I love. The minute that we walked into our house, the rain did eventually find us too. (smile)

One of my favorite things to do on a rainy weekend afternoon, is to watch old movies. I grew up watching these and they still always satisfy. I love modern movies too, but there is just something about a movie from times gone by. Brit Boy was on the computer, so I had movie time to myself. I watched “High Society” with Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and Bing Crosby. It was great. Grace Kelly had a fabulous wardrobe in that film…classic. Then I watched “The Last Time I Saw Paris” with Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, and Donna Reed. I loved the fashions in this one too and it was set in Paris, so it definitely satisfied. Elizabeth Taylor was ravishing in this movie. She was at her absolute beauty peak in this movie. She looked beautiful in every outfit, but my favorite was her in this beautiful jet black gown. Her hair was cut short into a pixie cut at this point in the movie and she wore these beautiful diamond earrings. The sparkle of the earrings next to her jet black hair, all together with her gown, just made for a striking image. After all of the talk of fashion, I have to say, the movie was actually a very emotional one, with problems of drinking, marital problems, and jealousy. I really enjoyed both movies. It made for a wonderful afternoon.

On Sunday, I watched “The Bat” which was a great spooky movie starring Vincent Price. He was one of my favorites. I absolutely love spooky movies, so he is “the man” of horror for me and I’m sure many others. (smile) This movie was very campy, but I love a good helping of campiness every once in a while. It makes me think that it was probably a great movie to see during the era of drive-in movies. Love that Vincent Price! (smile) Some of my best Friday night movie nights are all owed to him.

Notes From My Sickbed

I have been sick for the last few days. I have spent most of my time in bed. Thankfully though, I picked the best weekend to be sick because the weather has been awful. It has rained heavily and the wind has been wild!!! On my first night of being sick, I couldn’t sleep well, so I tossed and turned. Outside I heard the wind blowing fiercely and I wondered if our house’s roof would last the night. (smile) Today the wind has calmed a lot though. And amazingly enough, as the weather has calmed, so has my sickness.

I had a bad sore throat and congestion and it was making me feverish and I just felt awful. So I retired to my comfy little bed that I share with Brit Boy and waited it out whilst I pumped myself full of medication and got some rest. Here is a photo of my cocoon for the last few days.




Still, even though I was stuck in bed, I still kept myself occupied whilst I got better. On Saturday, I read some magazines until I got a bit dizzy and had to put them away. I really felt horrible that day and was forced to just kind of really relax and do nothing but try to sleep. I ended up not sleeping much at all Saturday night.

On Sunday, I spent the day in bed again. I watch a few movies, one after another on this one channel. I watched one called “These Old Broads” with Shirley MacLaine and Elizabeth Taylor. Then I watched “Marooned” which was a space exploration film and I rounded it off with “Sinbad” which was a great bit of fantasy for a Sunday. After that, cricket started, but by this time I was nodding off to sleep. The match was between England and New Zealand, I do remember. I only slept for a bit. Then I woke up to see this updated and re-imagined version of “The Wizard of Oz” called “Tin Man”. Brit Boy came upstairs and joined me and we watched this together. We had watched the other parts of the story the past two Sundays and this was the final one. It was really beautifully done...so imaginative. After “Tin Man” was over, I read some. Then it was lights out. I needed to get some real sleep after not sleeping well the night before.

Monday was the Bank Holiday here and it was Memorial Day back home, both days off from work for many people, and a day of remembrance back home. Both days are also unofficial beginnings of summer. However, I was still not feeling good, so I gave a pass to both days from the comfort of bed. (smile) And anyway, it was grey and dreary outside, so there was no point in going anywhere to do anything. Like I told Brit Boy, it was a perfect day to be stuck in bed and to be sick.

By the way, Brit Boy spent the weekend studying and chilling out on the sofa. And when I called on him, he was a wonderful nurse, just like I am for him when he is sick. (smile) Brit Boy took a trip up to the High Street to get me a few remedies and to get us a few things to eat. There wasn’t much open, but the grocery store was all we needed and it was open. He said that no one was around when he was up there. He enjoyed having the store mostly to himself. (smile) I had asked him to see if they had any sorbet at the grocery store and thankfully they had some. I figured that it would soothe my throat.

So later in the afternoon, we watched “The Manchurian Candidate” starring Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep on DVD and I had a bit of mango sorbet to cool down my throat. It was a great sick day...complete with mango sorbet, a great movie and my Brit Boy. Oh, by the way, today I am feeling much better and we ventured into town. (smile)Brit Boy had the day off and has tomorrow off too, so we are going to enjoy some days together without anyone being sick.

One additional note, I have added a couple of new tickers to the bottom of the page to chart how long Brit Boy and I have to wait until we go to the Nelson Mandela birthday concert and the Madonna concert. So those tickers now join the one for Wimbledon. Brit Boy and I are so honored that we will be seeing the great Nelson Mandela. We can't quite believe that. (smile)I will certainly share all of my experiences and photos from all three events here, in the weeks to come.