Friday, November 14, 2003
Dean Event
David Weinberger's hosting a Dean event at his house next Tuesday night if I remember correctly. David, is it still on?
Big Snow Up North
Looks like our cold windy weather in Boston is piles of snow in Killington and Stowe. Terrific.
Gary Turner's Two
Wow! It's Gary's 2-year-old blog birthday. Mine's coming up soon(ish) too. Last year's 1-year-old party at Yenching in Harvard Square seems about 15 years ago.
AKMA And Margaret's Christmas List
Nice to know the priest and his terrific wife are making a list and checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty and nice, all for me. So what can I expect under the tree again -- the book, or an absolute male -- for research purposes only of course.
Hot Babe, Age 60?
Hey Fleshbot, help me out here. That lovely blonde babe on your site named Chloe has a link to a profile that mentions this pussycat was born in 1943. I mean, yes, plastic surgery is miraculous, but surely this is a typo?I guess whoever said 60 is the new 35 had a point.
Roast That Bird
Hey, check this out. Early Bird, yup. It got me thinking.I know so many moms who are NOT doing the bird thing this year. And I mean married moms, not divorced moms, but obviously I know a number of those too.
It makes me think about how many women are NOT living their mother's lives.
If my mom had said she wasn't cooking turkey and doing the slave thing in the kitchen at Thanksgiving all of us and especially my dad would have thought she had lost her marbles. Even the notion that all women like to cook or know how to cook seems to be going out the window.
I know a lot of women who are wonderful cooks -- hey, Nell, I was thinking of you. But I know a lot of women who would rather do anything else.
Sometimes I think we're watching the De-Norman-Rockwellification of America.
This is a time of extremes, the Bush administration with it's 1950's conservativism (and 1950's ancient leaders) against a backdrop of very modern non-traditional life.
Happy Holiday Stuff
All the catalogues full of holiday stuff are cramming the mailbox. Some are really lovely I must say, but what do we really need for the holidays? Check your list.1. People who love us;
2. People to love back;
3. Warm place to live;
4. A little family or friendly fun.
End of list. Some candles are also nice.
Ratcliffe Relo
Mitch's site has relocated to http:// www.ratcliffeblog.com for your reading and listening pleasure. Updating blogroll links is really a pain in the neck, isn't it? It's a road to hell paved with good intentions to be sure. I always expect to get the thing done and find I've forgotten to bother.So Mitch, thanks for the email to set me straight. BTW, can you post about all your blogs and which are which and which are dead and which are alive ... I'm still confused.
Just got lost reading all your great writing over there. The thing about the WSJ piece on Canadian Healthcare was particularly good.
Like The Weather
-- Natalie Merchant, 10,000 Maniacs
The color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again.
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my lips as if I might cry.
Well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe.
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave.
Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
Quiver in my voice as I cry,
"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away."
I hear the sound of a noon bell chime.
Now I`m far behind.
You`ve put in `bout half a day
while here I lie
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my lip as if I might cry,
"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"
Do I need someone here to scold me
or do I need someone who`ll grab and pull me out of this four poster dull torpor pulling downward.
For it is such a long time since my better days.
I say my prayers nightly this will pass away.
The color of the sky is grey as I can see through the blinds.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my voice as I cry,
"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"
I shiver, quiver, and try to wake.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Heading To New York
Going down to New York tomorrow on the Acela train for the weekend. The temperature today in Boston dropped like a stone from a warmish morning to freezing WINDY cold evening here.I guess it is November, but holy heck, did they have to schedule a full-on autumn-to-winter transistion in a supersonic 5 hours?!
Halley What?
In case you wondered. My name is Halley (rhymes w/Sally) and Suitt (should have only one "T" like a law suit or suit of clothes or bathing suit).Some mystery man just emailed me about that, so I thought I'd just post an answer.
If you switch the first letters of my first and last name, you get
Sally Hoot -- got it?
"I Like You, But Just As A Friend."
Poor geek guys have it tough. Here's one that tells you why girls always fall for the jerky macho man heartbreakers ... but then one day, the window of opportunity opens a sliver,"Imagine for a moment that our hero has been friends with his dreamboat for months, perhaps even years. they've gotten to know each other pretty well. She's probably figured out that he's kind, smart, compassionate, etc. He's probably seen her go through a couple of relationships with jerks, and shared in her initial happiness and final misery. And he has probably fallen hopelessly in love with her. So imagine that there comes a time when she's not seeing anyone, and he manages, somehow, to convey to her that he thinks they could really be happy together without scaring her off or seeming to be other than he is. Imagine all that. What's the geek boy likely to get as a response? A rejection that involves, somewhere, the words "I like you, but as a friend."
Check out the other good advice.
I like to research these other Phd candidates in Early American Alpha Male History. They shed light on so many aspects of the alpha male experience.
Geek Makeover
Yes, there is help available. I disagree about losing the glasses. Looking not so cool or walking into walls? Go with looking a little less cool.
Geek Dating Tips
I see the book has already been written. This writer brings up one point that is PARAMOUNT. Get used to the idea boys that you are the initiator (she says pursuer) and everything will go better. It's like dancing in the old days. Someone needs to lead or you both stand there looking like idiots.It's always better for a guy to be too pushy than too shy. We're good at slowing you down. Trust me.
Rock Book
Daniel Okrent has written a new book called Great Fortune: The History of Rockefeller Center. Here's the first chapter. Wish I had some of the pictures to show you.The newest Land's End Christmas catalogue of all things, features a big spread about the book, with great pictures of sailors ice skating at the Rockefeller Center rink during the war, Rockettes doing their thing and the Christmas tree all lit up. It is a great place to get in a holiday mood.
I didn't need Land's End to remind me. I have been there many times before Christmas. New York's a perfect Christmas town.
Rockefeller Center
There's a lot to do there. You can eat. You can skate. You can snag champagne truffles at Teuscher's Chocolates. A favorite of mine.Wednesday, November 12, 2003
It's Called Love
I wanna write about this, but I'm not sure how to exactly. It seems to touch on the sacred and the profane, the sacrum and the patella, the salacious and propitious.Here's the simple version. A sexy guy writes a sexy blog about a million other sexy strangers. It's a great blog. You gotta like it.
But then ...
It happens ...
He finds a real live girl, that he really likes. And what's he do? Well, it's a simple story -- but it's the best story there is.
It's not wild. It's not weird. It's not sex super-sized. It's simple.
He falls in love.
And boy is that HOT!
And he is going to meet her -- he's only met her on the phone and email so far.
And we're REALLY turned on by THAT story.
And we wish him the best. And we wish her the best. And we're really okay if it doesn't happen. We want them to know it might be that Magic Moment. Or it might be Just One of Those Things.
But we love it. It's called love.
This Magic Moment
This magic moment,
so different and so new
Was like any other until I kissed you
And then it happened,
it took me by surprise
I knew that you felt it too,
by the look in your eyes
Sweeter than wine
Softer than the summer night
Everything I want, I have
Whenever I hold you tight
This magic moment
while your lips are close to mine
Will last forever,
forever till the end of time
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm
Sweeter than wine
Softer than the summer night
Everything I want, I have
Whenever I hold you tight
This magic moment
while your lips are close to mine
Will last forever,
forever till the end of time
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Magic moment
Magic moment
Magic moment
-- Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman
Great Fun, But It Was Just One Of Those Things
It was just one of those things, just one of those crazy flings.One of those bells that now and then rings, just one of those things.
It was just one of those nights, just one of those fabulous flights.
A trip to the moon on gossamer wings, just one of those things.
If weŽd thought of it, Žbout the end of it, when we started painting the town,
WeŽd have been aware that our love affair was too hot not to cool down.
So goodbye, dear, and Amen, hereŽs hoping weŽll meet now and then.
It was great fun but it was just one of those things.
Just Keep Saying It
Dow closes up over 100 points. Jeff Immelt at GE is saying the economy is coming back big time. Hope he's right.
Dow's Up After 3 Days Down
Maria Bartiromo is a babe. She just is. She's a babe and she's smart and so ... do men take her LESS seriously because she looks good?! Probably not. Do we take a man less seriously if he's handsome. I don't think so. Actually I think there's gonna be more and more pressure on MEN to look good.But surely, oh yes, I digress.
Markets are up and I'm watching CNBC to hear what they think is behind it. I figure it's just Chris Locke's birthday which always affects the markets positively.
Bulls, according to CNBC, think this is a good market because of the "seasonal long trade" -- good time of year.
Bears, according to CNBC, it all depends on the "rate of change of company earnings into 2004" in other words, they worry there will be bad earnings announcements coming.
So which is it? It's a good game this stock market game -- you can read the tea leaves any which way.
Whatever you figure, the markets up and that's good.
Clean-up
Cleaned out my email address book. So many names at the wrong address (thanks to job changes, companies disappearing, etc.) but now the thing is much more lean and mean. I can't believe how many multiple and WRONG email addresses I had for friends and family. Feels nice to have it up-to-date. And sadly, some of the people are no longer even alive. Holy mackerel. Change, change, change.
Wild Foody Travel Blog
Watch out Zagats. A new friend has started a travel and food blog, that gets me so worked up, it's a bit like culinary porno. Don't miss THE WILD RIDE. If you forget its destination on the Net -- go look at my blogroll, I'm adding it.Great hints here on a quick and fun way to visit London. His commentary on the hotels in London is especially helpful, as my experience with London is so hit or miss, I often find myself in a terrific hotel which I want to rave to all my friends about one visit and in a dangerous, dingy dump the next.
Have A Very Merry LEGO Mind Storm Robotics Christmas
Okay, I'm sold and I know my kid will flip for this. This mom of six gave me all the inside dope:"As a mother of six kids- ages 5 to 15- and a home schooling mom, I asked for this set for my own birthday, and the whole family has had a blast! We have Windows XP and have not had a single problem with conflicts. My 10 year old has built and programmed a bunch of very cool robots, and is now checking out books from the library to learn more about robotics. We spend hours building and programming. The robots can be built like you would build any Lego system. The constructopedia is easy to follow if you're used to larger Lego projects. (Think Hogwarts castle complexity with gears and motors thrown in.) The programming is set up to work like Lego construction. Different parts of the programs are in different "bricks". You select the bricks you want on the computer screen, drag and clik them into place. Then you download the program to your robot and hit run! Totally simple, lots of fun, and an awsome introduction to building REAL Robots-- not remote controled vehicles. The set includes membership to an online community of robot builders. I was amazed to see some of the robots built with this set. Robots to climb stairs, draw pictures and make peanut butter sandwiches (must wash the Legos afterwards.) I recomend this set to anyone ages 10 and older interested in constructing real robots without needing extensive programming knowledge. =) "
Backing Up
Last week a friend was helping me install some new software and he asked me that ominous question, "When did you do a back-up last?" I won't tell you the answer -- it wasn't good. We went ahead and did one but the thing I found most interesting was how little I keep on my computer now and how much is network-based.My email is not on my machine (since it's Yahoo email) and I like it being on their server both for the reason that if I travel I can get at it anywhere anytime and if my machine crashes I lose nothing. If my machine won't work -- I can walk into any Kinko's and be as productive (if not more) than I would be with my own machine.
And then the other app I use every day is this -- Blogger. And again, all my words are resident on their server, not my computer. I know many people argue against that and find that perilous, but I can guarantee you, they are better at maintaining my words than I ever would be. Blogger also gives me that same flexibility as Yahoo Mail, in terms of being able to blog anywhere I can get on the Net. I can be in Connecticut, Kansas, Calcutta or Katmandu and get online ... actually, not sure about Katmandu, but I wouldn't be surprised if I could.
So when it came down to it there were very few documents that I needed to back-up. I'm in the habit too of looking for my most recent CV or copy of a story as an attachment to email that I may have sent someone and even the act of attaching and sending, is in a way, a form of back-up. Again, if I'm out and need to get a CV to someone, I can go into Kinko's, use their computer, go to my Yahoo email, check my sent documents, get the attachment that was my most recent CV and print it. Even my bio with my picture is available on the web and I only have to send someone a link if they wanted to find out who I am.
Compared with a few years ago, when backing up daily was crucial, we've started to be much more embedded in the network in all our computing. It 's happened almost without us noticing.
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Civilization
I've been talking with David Weinberger about civilization and good manners. He's very civilized and has very good manners.Sometimes I take the notion of civilization too far. I was thinking about the fact that when I'm alone -- no one around -- and I make dinner for myself, I really actually set the table and put the food in big dishes and later serve myself, scooping stuff from the big bowl to my plate, and I was wondering if this is what normal people do when they are alone. I've given up long ago on the concept that I'm normal.
I mean ... I actually make my bed in hotels. Just makes me feel better.
100 Greatest Novels Of All Time
Dervala blogs this morning about the Observer's list of the 100 Greatest Novels (with a link from the Guardian actually) and the crazy girl has read an impressive 49 out of 100. Here's the list for you if you feel like counting. Honestly, I think Pilgrim's Progress is the dirty little secret of English Literature -- NOBODY has ever read it and nobody ever should be forced to.I won't say how many I've read. I've read a lot because I was an English major and even in America, that means these books are your solid diet for four years of college. Don't even ask me how FEW American novels I've read -- it's embarrassing. When I was in grad school at Columbia University in NYC, I signed up for a Kamikazi LIterature for Lunatics type class where we were supposed to read one VERY THICK novel a week (500 + pages) -- Anna Karenina this week, Madame Bovary next week, Great Expectations the week after, Moby Dick for week four. It was brutal. But of course wonderful too. The teacher was John Romano. I heard he ended up out in Hollywood writing drama shows like Law & Order. Wonder what he's doing now He was a terrific professor and the course was incredible.
[Well, one more big score for the web and how it never lets you lose track of anyone. Here's an update on my old Columbia professor. John Romano did end up writing for TV in Hollywood. Bravo, man. Way to go.]
Monday, November 10, 2003
Girlism Revisited Again
Girlism revisted and revisited and revisited. Don't miss the piece on the end of feminist fashions. Power women want to look like girls. Why am I not surprised?
Discussion of Dean's Fundraising
Interesting conversation on WGBH about Dean's choice to turn down federal matching funds on the show formerly known as MacNeil Lehrer News Hour -- what's it called now? Oh, yeah, News Hour. Elaine Kamarck from Harvard University is informative. Larry Noble from Center for Responsive Politics is interesting too.
Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy
This book looks pretty incredible. Can't wait to read it"Social critics Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed) and Hochschild (The Time Bind) point out that in previous centuries the developed world imported natural resources, and now the import du jour is women, ideally, "happy peasant" women who can care for the elderly and disabled, lovingly raise children and provide sexual services for men."
-- Publishers Weekly
Another link, with the back cover blurbs.
Gary, Love Your Knees, Man
Gary Turner's strutting his stuff in his kilt again... whoa .... very hot! All my Scot friends are giving me hell for my anti-men-in-skirts posts around here. Like I said, kilts and kimonos are kewl. It's the girly skirts on guys I can't get into. Or don't want to ... Don't miss his "License To Kilt"
Real Reality TV
I really think it's sick that last night's big TV was a choice between a girl being abducted by lunatics and a girl soldier being abducted by lunatics.If TV can't think up anything better than making money off of young girls being abducted, I say, let's take the gloves off and do a really exciting new reality TV show. It will save tons of money for our penal system.
Let's have a reality show starring different charmers like Gary Ridgway who's more than qualified as a media star having murdered 48 women.
Let's put 48 live women on an island with him and see how long he survives. I'm happy to be one of the lucky ladies. Of course, the show should be topless, one must always consider the ratings.
I'm sewing my grass skirt as we speak. I've got a nice piece of strong fishing line top-stitched loosely into the waistband that is easy to pull out quickly and slip right around his neck.
I Really Didn't Do What I Can't Tell You I Didn't Do
Prince Charles needs to do a lot more wild stuff if he's going to get blamed for everything anyway. Doesn't he know that?I think we need to give him a top ten list of really bad rumors of things he hasn't done, but people think he might have done, but we know he didn't really do and if we mentioned them, we might get sued, so we won't mention them or maybe we will after we explain that he never did any of these things.
1. Prince Charles really didn't pinch his nanny on the ass.
2. Prince Charles really didn't make George Bush pay him $87 billion for a blow job and a visit to Buckingham Palace next week.
3. Prince Charles really never ever wished he were a Tampax brand tampon.
4. Prince Charles really didn't want to play Nancy Reagan in the "The Reagans" and then when they turned him down, had a tantrum and broke three vases in the observatory with a lead pipe.
5. Prince Charles really didn't offer to be guest editor next week on Erosblog.
6. Prince Charles really, really didn't beg J.K. Rowling to read him Harry Potter in bed while he cuddled with his blankie.
7. Prince Charles really doesn't wear a camo thong under his fishing waders.
8. Prince Charles really isn't French. I think.
9. Prince Charles really isn't John Cleese, famed Monty Python cross-dressing British actor.
10. Prince Charles really doesn't need a new public relations consultant.
Halley's Best of Boston -- Submarines
I think I'm going to start writing my own Best of Boston. I just got a Turkey Sub at D'Agostino's Deli in Arlington Heights. The place is so good. The subs are a foot long, overstuffed with a different kind of deli meat each day -- Roast Beef Sub or Turkey Sub, or Meatball Sub or Pastrami Sub -- it's different every day. The price for the daily special is $3.89. All the other subs are available too, they just cost a bit more if they aren't the daily special. They are all terrific.I was really really trying to resist and NOT stop there. I made a silent bet with myself that I would ONLY stop if it were a TURKEY SUB day -- subs aren't exactly on my diet. I figured I had it covered -- what was the chance today's sub was turkey?!
Well, of course, it was TURKEY SUB SPECIAL today. And it is so terrific! Or to use the common Boston parlance -- wicked good!
Spelling Bee
Did you ever notice how in elementary school, it's usually girls who win the spelling bees and that we are pretty good spellers? But in relationships, did you ever notice how women don't like to spell things out. We leave hints and if a man doesn't pick up on it, there can be hell to pay. Just talking to a girlfriend on email about that. She does not plan to clue the guy in. He's about to get whacked. He'll never see it coming.
Endure
On a cold Monday, with work to do, things to worry about, gloves to search for and all the rest, I remind myself that all you have to do on Mondays is endure. Just last. Just live. Before you know it, you'll have turned the thing into Tuesday and that's always easier to deal with.
Yo Jonno!
Fleshbot posted a placemarker for the last few weeks that simply read "Coming Soon" and believe me, when a guy says something like that and is STILL saying that a week later ... well, one must be sensitive to this kind of situation, but one can only be so patient for so long.Therefore, I'm happy to announce, Fleshbot finally came last night, .... that is, came together. And best of all, the new editor is Jonno previously praised here for his terrific blog project of last spring.
Best of luck to you Jonno, Carly, Nick. I'm sending a digital potted palm to your new offices. Paste it anywhere you like.
Fleshbot looks great. It's a veritable Instapundit of porn.
Let me predict some incoming PR that we know is cooking in some big J journalist's brain, if not already written and ready to hit the presses. Some seemingly sober and serious businessy profile of Nick Denton is about to appear, all a cloaking device to really write about Fleshbot. I'll put my money on the Wall Street Journal or did it already appear and I missed it?
Fishing For Sound Bites
Glenn nails it here with a great post about the lazy-ass methods of many journalists. Writing is too hard and too much work and really good writing requires too much thought for most people -- readers included. Fast food and junk journalism have a lot in common. One makes you fat, the other makes your brain flabby.
Build Your Own Blogflex
You can see with Blogflex, those of you with bigger muscles and higher IQ's will want to go beyond the Blogflex Motivator, even the Blogflex Power Pro won't do it for you, you need to go straight to the Ultimate Blogflex.
Blogging Hardware For T2T Fitness
Okay, just call me Ms. Innovation. I finally figured it out. We need a blogging treadmill where you can work-out and blog-out at the same time. Adam Curry spilled the beans at BloggerCon when he said that maybe this blogging thing is some early stage of connecting all our brains, the very beginning of being able to converse sans words, just thought-to-thought, (T2T), so surely someone like Dean Kamen who gave us the Segway can create a Nautilus Weightlifting Treadmill Combo Brain-Scanner that gives you a buff body and a bucket full of blog after an hour's workout. That would be time well spent.Call it Blog-Flex, but no infomercials please. I guess you'd also have to sign-up for a little surgery to put a tiny switch on the side of your head, above your ear, to enable/disable brain spam or any incoming messages or blog posts when you just wanted to turn it all off.
Ever Notice
I love getting inboxes and inboxes full of email, but once you get replying to it, ever notice the DIRECT correlation between replying to email and not getting any blogging done? Same with exercise. The more exercise, the less blogging. Always a tricky trade-off.Sunday, November 09, 2003
Love Actually
Saw the movie Love Actually tonight, which I loved actually.A must-see before Christmas, as it follows the very mixed-up lovelives of a wide range of characters from 6 weeks before Christmas up to a lovely Christmas eve with lots of happy endings.
Just to see Hugh Grant as the new Prime Minister of England unable to get a date -- worth the price of admission, to be sure. You'd think a guy with such a nice house and such a great car and such a cool job could get a date, but even this Alpha Male comes up empty-handed throughout most of the movie ... but then omnia vincit amor.
Sign of Sunday
Netwoman blogged about this killer app and I figured I should post it over at Misbehaving. Net. It's so much fun to glue the little letters on the church sign.
Amster Amster Dam Dam Damn!
Werner's over in Amsterdam to get a big academic award and they don't do a little event over there. It's A BIG CEREMONY with tux and tails and very la-di-da! Wish I were there to see it. Best of luck.He's got an interesting post today on drug use in Holland.
Matrix Has Killer $240M Opening Worldwide
Most interesting thing about this opening was the fact that they did NOT stagger the opening throughout the world. They opened it in theaters in the US, Japan and Europe at the same time. This was to meet piracy and copyright problems head-on allegedly, but it's a great PR stunt too.
Blue Hair Troupe
If you're in Boston, you've got to go see Blue Hair Troupe. It's a play full of musical skits about being old. They do a medley of 60's and 70's songs that is absolutely riotous -- all dressed in funny hippy and disco outfits.They kick it off by reminding everyone that the stars of the 60's and 70's are in their sixites and seventies now!
Sorry, Mick!
They take very popular songs like the Beatles "All We Are Saying ... Is Give Peace A Chance" and turn it into a song for an old guy singing plaintively, "All We Are Saying ... Is Give My Hairpiece A Chance."
Most of the songs are so funny.
They rewrite the super sexy "Lady Marmalade" into the more tame "Voulez-vous Crochet Avec Moi Ce Soir" which brought the house down as three hip grandmas strutted their stuff along with their crocheted afghans and crochet hooks.
And then their remake of YMCA ... about joining the AARP is to die for. Whoops. I mean is great.
Good Lord
Looking forward to meeting up with Dervala in New York, but I think she's looking forward even more to simply making it back to civilization. Canada is a little more uncivilized than I imagined. She's living in a log cabin with no running water and the temperature is 20 below CELSIUS!"As for personal dirt, itll freeze on my skin and chip off nicely. I only have to manage until Tuesday, when I hop the Greyhound to New York and temporarily resume my glamourpuss life, complete with glamorous indoor plumbing."
I think we better hold her hostage in the Big Apple and not let her return to the wilds of Ottawa, sorry, I mean Ontario. It's one thing to rough it in Thailand, but surely parts of Canada have running water, maybe even bathtubs.
Just teasing -- wanted to get a rise out of our Canadian bloggers -- hey, Boris, hey, Accordian Guy, what gives?!
Heading Out
Heading out to do errands and later going to the movies. I took a two-hour walk this morning in the delightful 18 degree weather. That exercise, together with yesterday's intense weight-lifting and all surely qualifies me to sit in a movie theatre stuffing my face with popcorn and Raisinets. I reorganized the linens today -- put the beach towels away :( for a long stretch of months. I have my silver down parka and heavy boots ready by the door now. I think they call it W-I-N-T-E-R.
Goodbye
A special song for a special friend. Martina McBride is really an amazing singer. I love her new song "For The Girls" and the video is terrific too.Goodbye -- Martina McBride
Occurred to me the other day
You been gone now a couple years
Well I guess it takes a while
For someone to really disappear
And I remember where I was
When the word came about you
It was a day much like today
The sky was bright and wide and blue
And I wonder where you are
And if the pains ends when you die
And I wonder if there was
Some better way to say good - bye
Today my heart is big and sore
It's trying to push right through my skin
Won't see you anymore
I guess that's finally sinking in
Cause you can't make somebody see
With the simple words you say
All their beauty from within
Sometimes they just look away
And I wonder where you are
And if the pains ends when you die
And I wonder if there was
Some better way to say good - bye
Sex And The Single Older Woman
Great piece from The New York Times today about the movie, "Something's Gotta Give" -- here's an excerpt:Sex and the Single Older Woman
By NANCY MEYERS as told to AMY BARRETT
This is the first time I've written an original screenplay by myself. If I'm not ready at 53, I'll never be. I used to work in collaboration with my now ex-husband, Charles Shyer. We would talk for months, and when we hit on something, we'd write it down. ''Private Benjamin'' came out in 1980. I wrote that with Charles and Harvey Miller. After that, I wrote ''Irreconcilable Differences'' with Charles, and then we wrote the ''Father of the Bride'' movies and ''The Parent Trap.'' Collaboration is great for screenwriting. It's not as simple as two heads are better than one, but if you find the right person, you can feed off each other. But I don't think I could have collaborated on my latest film, ''Something's Gotta Give.'' I had an idea about a man who chronically dates younger women, who meets the mother of a girl he's dating. This was more personal than other films I've written. I don't think I would have been that open.
...
What interested me about my friend was that his wanting a young woman was as much about him not wanting a woman his own age. He's gone through his 40's and 50's, but the girls stay the same age -- that's the history I gave to Jack Nicholson in ''Something's Gotta Give.'' He and his current flame go to the Hamptons to consummate their relationship. Just as they arrive at her family's beach house, her mother, played by Diane Keaton, comes in the back door. Neither knew that the other would be there. After dinner, Jack goes to the guest room with the daughter, and the mother and the aunt are talking about them in the kitchen. At first, they think they hear screams of passion. Then her daughter cries, ''Mom!'' They run in, and Jack's character is having a heart attack. Later, he recuperates at her house after getting out of the hospital. The daughter has gone back to work; the aunt has, too. So the mother is the only game in town. It's just the two of them, and they have an affair. I always thought, What if a guy like this was stranded on a desert island with me? Would I let him get to know me?
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I won't go so far as to say this movie is a fantasy, except I have Keanu Reeves, who is the emergency-room doctor, and Jack Nicholson both fall in love with a 55-year-old woman. The man played by Jack finds himself drawn to her romantically and sexually, but later he questions it. He has just had a heart attack; he's not sure if his feelings are sort of like falling in love with your nurse. Would he really be interested under normal circumstances? All that is real. But the fact that the E.R. doctor comes along at the same time and is utterly taken with her and loves that he's drawn to her -- personally I haven't experienced that in a 36-year-old man. Do I think somebody could be drawn to the Diane Keaton character? Yeah. Is it a fantasy that he's being played by Keanu? Yes. And the fact that Jack's character comes around at the end -- is that a fantasy? I hope not.
I attended group sessions with heart-attack survivors and asked the guys what it's like. Some would go buy a Porsche or sell their businesses -- hearing how they changed their lives made me believe Jack's character could surprise himself and fall for a woman his own age. I'm aware that my movie is very hopeful. But all I know is since I made ''Something's Gotta Give,'' men on the crew and others have told me that they are now dating women their age -- not because of the movie but perhaps coincidentally. They say it's nothing like they have ever felt -- something about it is pretty great. It's probably very relaxing for them to not have to be 35 in bed when they are 55, you know?
Endorphin Gratification
I've been working out more lately after being really undisciplined and lazy as heck there for a while. I had a great workout yesterday and I was thinking about why it always feels so good to work out and so great AFTER working out, but it's also so easy to talk yourself out of doing it at all.To get back into exercise after I've been avoiding it, I play a game with myself that I can do it as badly as I want. I work out to videotapes, so I make a deal with myself that I can skip sections of the tape, I can do half as many push-ups as the mean teacher lady makes everyone else do, I can do whatever, as long as I put the tape in and start.
Of course, the game works because when I start, it feels good to work out and I pretty much know that even if I do only 1/2 the tape, I'm already better off than not exercising at all. Most of the time, I find I just do the whole tape. But I really don't get down on myself if I do next to nothing. It's about getting back into it. You know you'll do better the next time.
I'm not one for delayed gratification in most aspects of my life, so I was wondering why I'm so hooked on exercise. I really am willing to get down on the floor and do those push-ups, those hellish abdominal crunches, those often painful glute, thigh and leg exercises. I can really do an excellent lunge and my squatting with weights -- well, I'm not a bad squatter. You really do delay gratification with exercise. You work out day after day and only see the results long after. So, it must be the endorphins that keep me going during the tough parts.
The other boneheaded thing about working out that I always forget is how good it is for my mind, almost better than for my body. It's a great time to think. My body's in motion and moving in every direction and my mind is slowing down into a very quiet peaceful place. It's all drugs -- endorphins washing through me -- and they really do make you feel high.
Sunday New York Times Mag All About Movies
And there's my buddy George Clooney on the cover buying us tickets for Something's Gotta Give at the box office, as a light dusting of snow falls on the handsome shoulders of his expensive grey cashmere overcoat."George can we can popcorn with butter?"
"You betcha, little lady."
I love going to the movies with George. And a movie with Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves fighting for the heart of Diane Keaton. That's as good as it gets.
Don't Go Getting SAD
The first winter I was in Boston after moving here from LA (2000-2001) it was brutally cold. Even the most upbeat of all of us (and I would qualify in that category being a ruthless optimist and generaly go-go gung-ho girl) were a little bummed out by April or so, when it was STILL snowing and had been snowing since October.So in case you're tempted to get SAD this winter -- Seasonal Affective Disorder -- read this and try to avoid it.
Simple cure -- take an hour walk OUTSIDE every day, even if it 's really cold.