Black & White Movies

Yesterday my daughter stayed home from school because she was still recovering from a virus. I went to work for awhile, and then brought some work home and watched a movie with her.

We watched My Man Godfrey from 1936. Really. It's one of my favorite movies of all time!
(I was going to suggest that you go out and rent it immediately, but I guess you can watch it online for free!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6936786870782321920 )

It didn't take long for her to say, "Mom, doesn't this movie have any color?" I had to explain that most movies were filmed in black and white back then because the technology for color was new and expensive (and not very good).

I also had to stop and update her every now and then because it was hard for her to keep up with the dialog. She's an intelligent kid, but people talked a little differently seventy years ago. Also, I don't think people these days are used to having to really listen to dialog in TV and movies. I often say that I think most filmmakers today assume their audience are all idiots.

One thing she understood clearly--early in the movie she asked, "Mom, does he like her?"

Later in the afternoon she decided she was determined to go to school the next day (she did). I laughed and quipped that she'd better go to school or I'd make her watch Bringing Up Baby! When I explained to my husband and son that I'd made her watch a "horrible" old black & white movie that day, she looked at me seriously and said, "It wasn't horrible. I liked it!"

Score one for the Old B&W Movie Lover!

Of course, later when American Idol came on and I expressed excitement at the "Rat-Pack" theme, and knew all the songs, she said, "Mom, you're old!"

Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris

A book review seems rather frivolous with all that's going on in my life, but I'm tired of talking/writing about my current challenges, so... book review!

I love Jane Austen. I think I've read all her books (and seen the movies), but it's been several years, and since I'm getting old I've forgotten a lot of the details.

Carrie Bebris has taken Darcy and Elizabeth, the lovebirds from Pride and Prejudice, now a newly married couple, and put them in the position of solving a mystery. I think a good way to label it is Pride and Prejudice meets The Thin Man. (If you haven't seen The Thin Man movies, shame on you! Go out and rent them immediately!)

Well, maybe Pride and Prejudice meets The Thin Man meets a bit of mysticism. Bebris did a fairly good job of adding the fantasy elements--there was a believable amount of skepticism and open-mindedness among the characters. Overall, I thought the mystic elements felt a little out of place, but that might have been my attachment to Jane's original characters and settings.

I thought Bebris did a good job of setting up several suspects (all red herrings but one, of course) and keeping the reader guessing with dead ends (literally, in the case of one suspect). Toward the end I was actually having a hard time putting the book down, which is a high compliment.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dialog, particularly the banter between the newly married Darcy couple. At first it seemed to me that the story was starting slowly, but I didn't mind because I was enjoying the dialog.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, or as Elizabeth might say, I found it very diverting. I intend to read the next one (it's a series).

ABCs of Me!

A - Age: 42
B - Bed size: Full
C - Chore you hate: Going to the grocery store
D - Dog's name: Butter
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'6"
I - Instruments you play: Um... I played the violin when I was a kid.
J - Job title: Um... I have no idea. Data Entry Clerk? That sounds good.
K - Kids: Two, twins, age 13
L- Living arrangements: own a home? Yes
M - Mom's name: Mom
N - Nicknames: Mom
O - Overnight hospital stay: Three. Ear tubes put in, Gallbladder removed, and Twins removed
P - Pet Peeve: The sense of entitlement
Q - Quote from a movie: "Laugh it up, Fuzzball!"
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Siblings: Two, a brother and a sister
T - Time you wake up: 6AM
U- Uniforms worn: Girl Scouts is the only one, I think. A long time ago.
V - Vegetable you dislike: Cauliflower
W - Ways you run late: Probably any way you can think of
X - X-rays you've had: Feet, neck
Y - Yummy food you make: Chicken and dumplings
Z - Zoo favorite: Owls

New, not so new

I'm not new to blogging, but I'm new to Blogger. I've had a LiveJournal since 2003, but I decided to float over here to try something a little different. I'll probably cross-post some, and some of the content may be different. I haven't quite figured it out yet.

I also have a Xanga and a MySpace and a Twitter that I rarely touch, and a FaceBook that I'm fairly active on.

Over on LJ I just finished a commitment to post something that made me happy every day for eight days, and I think that might be a good way to start out over here.

So what has made me happy today?

Prayer. Literally. I was swimming in paralyzing anxiety earlier because of the refinance/repairs/insurance claim we have in process. I didn't feel fearful, exactly, just so caught up in thinking about it that I couldn't really accomplish anything. I needed peace.

I paused. I prayed. I got peace.

Heaven will be really cool if for no other reason than the absence of plumbing and morgages. :)