The Reviews Are In

I missed a couple days of work this week due to a light touch of the plague.  On the plus side, I sped my way through Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in a day.  I suspect that this book may have been written just for me, as it is a teen romance with a chubby, redheaded protagonist.  (Will I ever grow out of the teen romance genre?  Magic 8-Ball says, "Very doubtful".)  I enjoyed this book and I think I would have loved it if I had read it half a lifetime ago.

Last week I read Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.  (Another redheaded protagonist.  Also, this book takes place, in part, in Maine and includes a shout out to Marden's.)  I really liked Orphan Train and found it especially fascinating because, like the character of Vivian, my great-grandfather was an Irish immigrant who was adopted around the age of 9.  Unlike Vivian, he did not ride an orphan train, but he and his siblings were split up and adopted by different families throughout Massachusetts.  I can't imagine how scary that was, particularly in an era when children were not sent to therapy to cope with such a massive change.  My family still doesn't know why he and his siblings, save the baby, were taken out of their home.  The murky details of my great-grandfather's adoption made it more credible that Vivian had kept so much of her past to herself throughout her life.  In the book, Vivian's story parallels that of Molly, a teenager of Native American heritage who is currently in the foster system.  Orphan Train was a very good book; I recommend it.

And while I'm tossing out super brief reviews, here are the last few movies I watched:

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continue
I really like the original Anchorman, but this sequel was godawful.  2 out of 5

Girl Most Likely
I caught this Kristen Wiig movie on TV at my parents' house and was pleasantly surprised by how quirky and funny it was.  4 out of 5

Gravity
Two things hurt this movie.  1) I did not see it on a big screen at the theater.  2) My expectations were raised.  I thought Gravity was overrated.  3 out of 5

Saving Mr. Banks
Mary Poppins is my favorite movie, so of course I enjoyed this movie about the making of Mary Poppins.  I love Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.  However, Mary Poppins is a joyful film and Saving Mr. Banks is at best bittersweet.  It pretty much just made me want to watch Mary Poppins again.  3 out of 5

My Decade

I went to Maine to see my parents and celebrate Easter last weekend.  I had a lovely visit with them and with my nana.  While I was at their house, I became addicted to an '80s music station that is part of my parents' cable package.  My dad was irritated that I turned on a plasma TV (notoriously expensive to run, according to him) to listen to old tunes.  We had a discussion about "our music" and he thought it was peculiar that I identified the '80s as my musical decade.  I guessed that he would pick the '70s as that is the decade in which his teen years occurred, but he also chose the '80s.  Although my mum is a serious disco enthusiast (we listened to The Bee Gees in her car while I was home), I think she would choose the '80s as well.  Another advantage of having young parents-- we all know the lyrics from every song that blasted out of our silver boombox* in the Reagan era.**  Anyhow, it occurred to me this morning that my work day would probably be more enjoyable if I listened to some '80s music at my desk.  I've been tuned to "Best of the 80s on SKY.FM" and I genuinely think it has improved the day.  It doesn't hurt that today is Friday either.

*At this point, mentioning the silver boombox is purely for my own entertainment.  The silver boombox is to this blog as the spider and grasshopper are to Little Critter books.  (The following illustration is from Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer.  I loved those books and I had a "just me and my dad" moment last weekend when The Boss and I took my parents' dog for a walk.  I am not an outside gal, but the weather was perfect, the bugs weren't out yet, and we had a nice chat and stroll on their quiet country road.)

** The Dude and I saw President Reagan at Westover Air Reserve Base with our grandparents and mother.  I decided to bring my BFF/stuffed animal Tippy with me to see the president.  Tippy is a ginormous stuffed puppet dog, and the Secret Service nearly didn't let me in because of her.  Fortunately she went through the metal detector without a problem.

Happy Stanley Cup Playoffs....ehh, I mean Easter

Lot of folks are celebrating God, JC, religion, Easter bunnies, baskets, candy, etc.  Today I'm rocking a full NHL Playoff schedule, with the main event coming at 3pm in Boston.

• Flyers/Rangers - hoping the Flyers win this series to tie it 1-1
• Bruins/Red Wings - Bruins lost Friday night at home 1-0 in a tight game.  They need to win this game to go back to Detroit all tied up at 1-1 for Tuesday night.  Must win situation for the Bruins playing a very good Red Wings squad
• The 2 remaining games, Tampa Bay/Montreal and LA/San Jose will be "maybes" in terms of me watching.  Technically one could watch hockey from 12pm EST to 12:30am EST with the way the schedule is and time zones.  I already ran some errands and did some chores this morning, but no way I can handle that much hockey in one day.  The weather is pretty solid out today, so need to get back outside to enjoy it more.  I also seem to get a rush/high just by getting my car washed, then walking around it inspecting the work for about 10 minutes after the fact. 

Random notes - found this video online and think it is pretty interesting.

Excuse me, I have a very important announcement: "Guy named Frank stroked wiener on Riverside trolley"

This article is amazing - all the way from the title/URL to the highlighted portion in yellow below.
 
I thought that if you show your D in public you are automatically a sex offender in Massachusetts?  One of the biggest fears from 2003-2006 for my buddies and me was getting caught publicly urinating in and around Boston, due to it being a sex offender crime.  This guy is bopping the baloney while staring at a woman on the T and only gets charged with lewd and lascivious behavior?  What the?

For years the spelling of wiener vs weiner when it comes to male genitalia has perplexed me.  I definitely should not have just Googled "wiener vs weiner".

Also, I really hope that Frank uses the classic Shaggy excuse when defending himself in court for playing a little 5 on 1 in public.

Police: Guy named Frank stroked wiener on Riverside trolley

By adamg on Thu, 04/17/2014 - 8:49am

Transit Police report charging Alexander Frank, 21, of Framingham, with committing self service while staring at the woman sitting next to him on an inbound D Line trolley around 9:45 a.m. on April 8.
The woman exited at Longwood; Frank did not get off there.
Police say detectives nabbed Frank yesterday at Riverside station. He's scheduled for arraignment today in Newton District Court on a formal charge of lewd and lacivious behavior.

http://www.universalhub.com/2014/police-guy-named-frank-stroked-wiener-riverside

Danke Schön

I got walloped with a cold and/or brutal allergies yesterday.  Right now I am sitting at my desk trying to breathe out of my mouth in as inconspicuous a manner as possible.  Despite my efforts, I know I resemble a chunky Napoleon Dynamite.

Instead of focusing on my sniffles, I am going to list a half-dozen things for which I am grateful on this snowy New England morning.  I am thankful for:

1. My brother blogging on the regular.  We pretty much post to entertain each other, so his increased blogging is a win for me. 
2. The return of "Call the Midwife."  This may be my favorite show on television right now.  The characters are so genuinely kind and caring.  I love spending an hour with them each week.
   
3. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert.  The Dude lent me this book and I am happy to laugh out loud on the T while I read it.
4. My annual Easter celebration with my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  I have spent Easter at my aunt and uncle's home since I started college.  This year their entire family will be out of town so we moved the celebration up a week.  Our 2014 bunny cake was pretty great, if I do say so myself. 
   
5. Weekend plans to visit my parents.  I haven't been to their house since Thanksgiving so I am extra jazzed to spend time with them.  Hopefully since Sunday is Easter I'll get to see my nana and a few other local relatives as well.  (Most of all though, I am excited to utilize their amazing soaker tub.  Yesssssss.)
6. My roof *finally* getting replaced sometime in the next few weeks.  On Saturday morning I awoke to my neighbors getting a new roof and I almost wept with jealously.  The roof nightmare should be coming to an end soon.

New Girl

This show is decent, but I discovered this interview by the bros via Twitter and it was pretty hilarious.

Boston Strong

1 year ago today was the Boston Marathon bombing, which turned the city into an uproar and caused a city-wide crisis for days.  Below are my 2 favorite tributes/messages following the bombing.

Again with the Boombox

I had an intense obsession with '80s teen movies during the mid-90s to early 2000s.  I have seen the six John Hughes high school movies (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Some Kind of Wonderful) eleventy-seven times each.  Although there are other stellar teen movies from the '80s, the one that earned a spot in my heart and on my door room wall along with Hughes' movies is Cameron Crowe's Say Anything.

I came across an article today that reminded me how very much I loved Lloyd Dobler:

"Say Anything Turns 25:  15 Life Lessons from Lloyd Dobler"

I can't be the only gal who, after twenty-five years, is still convinced that Diane Court did not deserve Lloyd.  He gave her his heart and she gave him a PEN!  Regardless of Diane's worthiness, the movie is pretty terrific, with a phenomenal performance by John Cusack, extremely quotable dialog, and Peter Gabriel's super romantical "In Your Eyes". . . . blasted from a silver boombox. 

A Tale of Two Exes

I was visiting a buddy in San Francisco over the weekend and had a very odd and statistically improbable experience.  On Saturday at the Giants/Rockies game, I ran into a girl I dated around 2007-2008/9ish.  She spotted me and came up to say hi and I stood there for a good 15 seconds dumbfounded and confused.  She lives out there now and happened to be one of 41,000 people at the sold-out Giants game-- in the same area of the stadium at the same time as me.  The conversation was brief and not that awkward as she is a social person and was asking all of the questions.

Yesterday when I was at the airport I did a double-take as I saw another ex checking her luggage.  I wasn't even 100% sure it was her at first.  This one had an attitude issue here and there and I couldn't deal with back-to-back ex weirdness.  I dated her in college and a bit after college from 2002-2005.  She was obviously on the same flight as me and I managed to avoid contact with her until boarding the plane.  She boarded the plane before me and spotted me walking down to my seat.  I had my headphones on and was looking at my phone as I walked down the aisle in an attempt to play dumb.  I was literally in the last row of the airplane sitting by the window, which made me the last person to get off the plane.  She was waiting for me by the gate and said in a quasi-rude way, "Figured it would be rude of me not to say hi since I saw you earlier."  From there we walked to the luggage area for checked baggage and had a quick and awkward conversation.  Not sure why she waited for me; she was clearly heated I had pretended not to see her and the conversation had an edge to it.  Her bag came first and I let my bag make another circle just so I could wait around.  Then we still ended up four people apart in the taxi line.  Lucky for me my headphones were back in and I didn't have to say anything else.

Overall San Francisco was an awesome time and is a fun city.  I saw a lot of things and walked miles around and through the city.  I'm sporting a killer arm sunburn, complete with a watch outline and bracelet outline on each wrist from the Giants/Rockies game on Saturday.  It was a 1pm game with sunny skies and a 72 degree temperature.  I also came back with a SF baseball hat and will be enjoying them as my National League team going forward.

Deep Thoughts with Herself

Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no atheists in staircases when a disastrously clumsy person moves bulky furniture alone.

Three flights, people.  Whenever I need to get something large and/or heavy in to or out of my home, I have to face three flights.  If only my cats were mules.  If only I weren't in danger of falling down the stairs even when I have nothing in my hands due to extreme lack of coordination.  Life is a little sweeter this morning because I brought a bookcase to the basement and I am still alive.  My windows are wide open and fresh air is pouring into the house as I do some serious cleaning.  I'm taking a break right now while my kitchen floor dries.  It is kind of unbelievable how dirty a house can get when it is loaded to the rafters with cats.  No wonder crazy cat ladies are so frazzled-- They can't keep up with the sweeping and dusting.

National Siblings Day/Where Is My Gift?

Today is National Siblings Day and my sibling is off to San Francisco.  I have one thing to say to The Dude:



In honor of this little know holiday, here is a link to an old post about how The Dude and I are crushing this whole sibling thing.  I think we've earned our spot in the pantheon of outstanding brother/sister duos.

San Francisco Time

Headed out tomorrow to visit my buddy LDR in San Francisco for a long weekend.  I've known LDR for 16 years or so and he moved out to SF last year for work with his wife.  LDR and I have gotten weird in multiple cities and I'm pumped to see where he lives, works and enjoys his free time.  We plan on hitting Alcatraz, a Giants/Rockies game at AT&T Park, Pier 39 and Chinatown.  I stayed in SF at the Grand Hyatt over by Fisherman's Wharf years ago, but didn't get to enjoy the city that much due to work.

I'm sure by the time I'm headed back from the trip in a few days we will have an updated photo that displays some good times.

Shocking News from My Home Town

Tonight my dad casually mentioned that he would no longer be willing to take the Two Cent Bridge, a footbridge he used to cross when he walked to work from my childhood home, on account of "someone pooping on it."  

The scene of the crime

I assure you that we stumbled onto the topic of the Two Cent Bridge naturally, as we were discussing work schedules and how he had a shorter commute before my parents moved several years ago.  He slipped the pooping reference in quickly and the only reason he didn't continue with his end of the conversation was that I screamed, "WHAT?!?!" at the top of my lungs when he dropped the outrageous bridge news.  He was sure he had told me about poop-gate, but he must have told The Dude or someone else because this was a shocking and hilarious revelation to me.  I started laughing uncontrollably as he instructed me to "Google 'defecation' plus 'Two Cent Bridge'. . . plus 'Morning Sentinel.'"  (The Sentinel is our hometown paper.)  I was laughing so hard as I searched for the story that my dad reported to my mum, "She just snorted twelve times in a row."  My mother sometimes succumbs to uncontrollable fits of laughter and I realized tonight that I may have inherited that trait as I nearly gave myself an asthma attack laughing so hard.  Anyhow, my dad's search parameters led me to this gem:

"Human feces cleanup on Waterville’s Two Cent Bridge highlights upkeep questions"

For those who are short on time, I will summarize:  A concerned citizen reported human feces on a footbridge and could not interest a single soul in picking up the mess.  He ultimately took care of the problem himself by filling a bucket with river water (now only 90% human feces!) and washing off the contaminated area.  I don't know if this man is a hero or a lunatic, but his story provided me with more entertainment than I could have ever hoped for the low, low cost of zero dollars.  Seriously, I enjoyed The Book of Mormon a great deal, but I laughed so much harder at this story.  Here are a few of my favorite tidbits from the article:

the waste, which included toilet paper

The pooping bandit brought TP.  I mean, he (or she) isn't an animal!

Municipal officials from both sides of the river said Thursday that they haven’t been asked to clean human filth from the bridge before.Winslow Public Works Director Paul Fongemie said that in his three years with the town he’s never been asked to clean or maintain the bridge.“If the town manager called and said, ‘Hey, there’s poop on the bridge and we want you to go clean it up,’ I guess we would, but no one’s ever said that to me before,” he said.

No one has ever said that to you yet, Mr. Fongemie.  Now that he has publicly announced his willingness to squeegee human waste from the Two Cent Bridge, the calls will start rolling in.

“I’m not going to have officers go and pick that up,” Massey said. “We’re certainly not going to send uniformed officers down to do that.”

What use are our boys (and gals) in blue if they won't properly dispose of a deuce on a bridge?  I can't think of any better reason to call 911.


When The Dude and I were little, we used to take the Two Cent Bridge with our mum to watch the fireworks on the fourth of July.  After some bridge shenanigans on Independence Day 1989,  the fireworks were permanently moved to a different location in the 04901.  While I was still on the phone with my dad tonight, I lamented the fact that I do not have a vintage photo of us on the bridge to add to this post.  I offered The Boss ten whole dollars to go have his photo taken on the bridge for the sake of his children's blog.  He declined, but I am upping the ante.  I am now willing to pay $20 for a shot of him on the Two Cent Bridge holding up a roll of toilet paper and grinning.

In Loving Memory of Our Silver Boombox

Growing up at 8 Victor in the '80s, there was a crucial small appliance in our kitchen.  Okay, perhaps a boombox does not qualify as a small appliance, but it was as big as a microwave.  (We did not own a microwave until the late '80s, several years after procuring our cherished boombox.)

The silver boombox was a fixture in our kitchen for probably a full decade.  I remember it balancing on the divider between the kitchen and living room in the mornings while we got ready for school, but apparently it retired to the safer location of the kitchen counter during off hours.

The Dude as a toddler with our dad, The Boss

Herself with Uncle Binky

Our boombox was always tuned to 92 Moose, the pop radio station in Central Maine.  Our mum was a frequent morning caller to The Moose, reporting birthdays and occasionally ending up on air.  She was a hip, hip lady.  I can vividly remember her lip syncing in our kitchen to Nu Shooz's 1986 hit "I Can't Wait."  While there is no denying the appeal of the iPod, I will forever hold a spot in my heart for the clunky radio/cassette player that provided the soundtrack to my family's lives during my first and favorite decade.

Late Night

There has been a lot of speculation online about who should replace David Letterman when he retires next year.  I am on record as a big Colbert fan, so giving him an extra half hour a night could be fantastic, though I would miss his performance as "Stephen Colbert" and the razor sharp writing on "The Colbert Report."  I also fully support the Fey/Poehler suggestion, though I don't know how likely that is to pan out.  Bonnie Hunt, a favorite Letterman guest, was mentioned as a potential host and I like that idea as well.  She is smart and funny and I will continue to spread the gospel of Return to Me, a phenomenal movie that she wrote and acted in.  While I'm discussing female hosts, I will say that I am not in favor of Chelsea Handler taking the job.  Her combination of mean humor and vocal fry is not my cup of tea.  (I'm sure she is devastated.)

I have been trying out "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and I've found that my favorite part of the show is the time between the monologue and the first guest when Meyers sits at his desk and chats.  His stories are often about his family and I have enjoyed his material and delivery.  His description of the death of a childhood pet was especially amusing:

Good Times Were Had

I really enjoyed seeing The Book of Mormon with The Dude last night.  We hit my favorite Thai restaurant for dinner before the show and then experienced a solid few hours of entertainment.  The songs were catchy and clever and the show was very funny, which was no surprise as it was created by the "South Park" guys.  One of my favorite elements of The Book of Mormon was noting the homages to other musicals throughout the show.  Having just reminisced on this blog about some of my favorite musicals, I was delighted to see numbers that referenced "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" from The King and I, "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man, "I Have Confidence" from The Sound of Music, "Tomorrow" from Annie, and "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King.  I know there were many other references that I missed due to lack of familiarity with some shows.  I also noted that ballads about the dream of moving to a new city are consistently my least favorite part of the musicals in which they are featured. I've always hated the "Santa Fey" number in both Newsies and Rent and last night I could have done without "Sal Tlay Ka Siti."

Here is "I Believe" from The Book of Mormon-- with a bonus intro by Stephen Colbert.

Life's A Happy Song

The Dude and I are musical enthusiasts, so I am very much looking forward to seeing The Book of Mormon with him this evening.  Since moving to a city as college students, we have been fortunate to see several musicals together, including Avenue Q, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, Rent, Spamalot, and Wicked.  The Dude and our uncles S and J are my go-to musical buddies.  S and J took me to see Rent and Seussical while I was in college and I also saw many of the musicals listed above with them.  (Rent is listed twice as I've seen it multiple times.  Every young person who loves musicals must go through a serious Rent phase.)

Three of my favorite people on the planet.  On our way to see "Donkey Show" in 2010.

Growing up, I adored the movie musicals that my mother had been raised on-- The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and of course Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music.  (My Julie Andrew obsession is documented on the blog.)  I discovered that I loved Annie and other more recent (to a child of the '80s) movie musicals like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Labyrinth, Newsies, and every amazing Disney movie from the era (especially The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.  Side note-- The Lion King musical, which I saw the my mum, aunt, and cousin a decade ago in the same theater in which I'll see The Book of Mormon tonight, was phenomenal.)  The Dude and I were also big fans of the movie Grease, though looking back, that flick had some very questionable content for kids.  Great job, Parents.

During my teen years, I "borrowed" (permanently) my dad's A Chorus Line cassette tape and though I've never seen it performed, I know every word of that musical.  The above-referenced musical expert J bought me a Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat CD the year that I met him and I know that from start to finish as well.

So in conclusion, I'm a sucker for musicals.  One of my favorite movies from the past few years is The Muppets because of the nostalgia factor of the muppets themselves but also because of the outstanding songs Bret Mackenzie created for that film.  I can't listen to "Life's A Happy Song" without smiling and I can't help but feel gleeful when I have the privilege of watching talented performers sing and dance their hearts out.  Tonight should be a good night.

Recent Accomplishments

I had a four-movie weekend.  It was quite a success-- there is a me-shaped impression in the couch cushions.

American Hustle (2013):  This movie got a lot of attention during awards season because the four lead actors were nominated for Oscars.  I enjoyed the disco-era costumes and the acting was top notch, but the movie itself felt a bit jumbled.  I would give it a 3.5, but I'm feeling generous and rounding up to a 4.

Heir to an Execution (2004):  This documentary by Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's granddaughter Ivy Meeropol was interesting.  I was very curious about the large extended family that shunned Julius, Ethel, and their sons but fifty years after the executions most relatives were still unwilling to talk to Ms. Meeropol.  3 out of 5

The Inbetweeners Movie (2011):  I went on an "Inbetweeners" binge on Netflix, which I capped with this movie.  I am a sucker for teen shows and for British shows, so this was a win.  I need The Dude to watch this so we can throw random British phrases into conversations as we did after watching the original "Office," "Skins," "Shameless," etc.  I have probably watched the dance sequence from the movie a dozen times.  3 out of 5

Thor: The Dark World (2013):  The Dude covered this yesterday.  We watched this together.  It was not good.  I liked the first Thor movie, but this was very heavy on special effects and lacked a story line.  There were large chunks of this movie that didn't even contain dialog.  2 out of 5