Juggling Life

Homage: My Friend, My Mentor, My Mrs. G.

Big thoughts (muddled or otherwise) will have to wait for another day.

BIG NEWS! takes precedence today. CELEBRATION! is called for.

Heather Gattuccio aka Mrs. G. has gone Hollywood. You MUST click the link. It's mandatory today. Unless you already read it--nah, click it again, it's worth another read.

There are many Derfs happy today for Mrs. G.'s success, but none more thrilled than I. Really, every blog accomplishment I have had has come as a result of her support. She was the first person to read my blog (because NOBODY does directly supporting and encouraging her readers like Mrs. G.) and it was her featuring me on the inaguaral Slow Cook Thursday that got me readers two, three and four. 

I looked back on the comments on that post and am blown away that I've met more than one of those women in person, and have close blog relationships with others. My comment to her deserves a repeat here today: Mrs. G, How can I ever thank you enough? Of all the bloggers in bloggerville, you will always be first in my heart! 

Heather did not just give me readers though, she turned me into a writer. Her asking me to write for The Women's Colony was a watershed moment in my life. If someone with Mrs. G.'s writing chops says she considers you a decent writer, you ought to ponder believing it. I loved every minute-drama and all-of that writing project with those women. 

If you don't already "like" The Derfwad Manor Facebook page, you really ought to pop over and rectify the situation post-haste.

Heather has been a true friend in other ways as well; not bloggable, but hugely important to me. 

I'm calling it now--viewing party at my house! We will do it up in true Derf style; strong liquor, great food and hot guys wearing aprons refilling our glasses. Who's in? 

 

 

Te Quiero Barcelona

I hope you all took my advice and saw Mamma Mia! If you did and you loved it you know you can trust me. If you didn't like it, give me another chance.

                 Vicky Cristina Barcelona

 

                          ¡Amé esta película!

                      (That's with the Spanish "th" sound on the "s")

This was another one of those movies--so rare these days--where the audience was made up grown-ups there to see a movie of intelligence, sophistication AND humor (that would be not-potty or stoner humor). And the audience clapped when it was over. You don't get that much anymore.

For my readers with younger children these days may seem long ago and far away, but try and take yourself there. Do you remember when you went to see a movie before dinner so you could have a lively and interesting discussion about the movie at dinner? (If you're still not with me, I'm not talking Mickey D's after Shrek). This is the perfect movie for that kind of evening.

Moral ambiguity, existential questions about life and love, sexy people and the breathtaking architecture of Barcelona combined with a catchy soundtrack come together under Woody Allen's flawless direction to make a movie you'll be happy to have plunked down $11.00 (WTF?!) for.

I must give a shout-out to my gal, Penelope Cruz. Oh sure, Scarlett Johansson is gorgeous and sexy, but Penelope is all that as well as luminescent and the most fabulous actress ever (okay, Meryl Streep's pretty good, too). I'm a huge Pedro Almodovar fan and I've been crushing on Penelope since she played a pregnant nun in Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother She has never been better in a role than this one.

I know a few of you out there are fans of the scruffy, bad boy mancake--you will not be disappointed in Javier Bardem. This pic is not from Vicky Christina Barcelona, but it is hot--and so is the movie!

Now that the kids are back in school maybe you can do what I used to do back in the strictly SAHM days--find a theatre that has a 10 or 10:30 showing and take in a movie while the kids are in school. There were a couple of years where it seemed like that was the only time I ever got to see a movie. Too bad about my husband, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do!

A Few of my Favorite Things

Books: This is very hard because I looooove to read. So, a partial list: The Poisonwood Bible, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Pigs in Heaven, Moo, The Deep End of the Ocean, The Good Mother, Glass Castles, Me Talk Pretty One Day, The Pilot’s Wife, My Sister’s Keeper. As a child I loved all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, An Old Fashioned Girl, Little Women, Nancy Drew; as a teen-ager it was all the books by Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, James Michener, and Stephen King.

Movies: The Upside of Anger, High Fidelity, The Virgin Suicides, About a Boy, My Life as a Dog, Shawshank Redemption, Jerry Maguire.

Songs: Goodnight Saigon, Fortunate Son, Desperado, Crazy, I’m Still Standing, Get Off Of My Cloud, You Can’t Always Get What You Want, Eleanor Rigby, plus the cast recordings of A Chorus Line and Chicago.