Another movie you gotta go see...

The End of the Spear--wow!
Lily cried almost the whole way through the movie. I don't think I cried at all, but it was very moving, very intense. Beautiful cinematograpy of Panama. Beautiful haunting musical score.

Interesting tidbit: the movie was made as a response to Colombine. The tribe said no, you can't make a movie. Steve Saint (yes, that's his real name) said, there's this event in Colorado where people are killing people senselessly. Then the tribe said yes. If this movie could help your culture be less violent, yes, you can make this movie.

Huh. So it's not just another missionary movie out there, although it is, in the same vein as

• The Mosquito Coast (which has an amazing soundtrack)
• The Mission with Bobby Deniro and Jeremy Irons
• The Mosquito Coast with River Phoenix (although the book is better)
• The Poisonwood Bible (a book that takes over your life like a movie does.)

It's only playing in eight theatres in Pittsburgh, and only one that I was familiar with. It's not at Waterworks, the Waterfront, any of the Squirrel Hill theatres. It is playing at Northway Mall, which is where Lily and I went to see it. I highly recommend it. It shows some stupid white men get killed by some stupid indigenous people and then the rest of the movie is the unraveling of the violence and the mystique.

He turns our weaknesses into His opportunities... (from a praise&worship song that I love) (Cause I'm sorry, those missionary men and those tribal men, they were weak! I mean, they thought they knew what they were doing and they had NO F**ing CLUE!)

Also, the women are the smart ones in this movie. There would have been a lot less violence if they'd listened more to the women. Boys will be boys, though.

I'm babbling and it's time to go...the sun has gone to sleep and so must I....goodbye, goodbye!

Another movie to see is Beyond the Gates of Splendor, a documentary about this story. Gotta see if the library gots it...They do!

So. very. tired.

Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?

(Kermit the Frog) Listen to the Midi, here.

Sunday I went to see Chris Tomlin. I bought my first concert t-shirt!! It's gray, with pink writing. I am so proud!! I was a little worried that going to the concert wouldn't qualify as "church," which is where I generally spend Sunday evening. Oh, but I shouldn't have worried. The worship was phenomenal (Indescribable), and Louie Giglio did this amazing talk in the middle on the stars in the Milky Way and how amazing it is that God should care for us, a pale dot suspended in air and bathed by sunlight. (Not the exact quote...) He showed us amazing photos from the Hubble Telescope. So I was tickled pink to see that the second verse of the Rainbow Connection (see lyrics above, in the link) talks about stargazing.

On the way to the concert, I dropped by my library to pick up a copy of Sudden Fiction. And when I pulled out of the parking lot, I saw these:






The rainbow was God's first promise. Google the Hubble Telescope and take a gander at some stars. Happy Hump day all. I'm off to sing songs with babies. Say a prayer that we don't need to call the police on their older counterparts--we called the cops on the teens twice last Wednesday.

books books books: an eclectic mix

(Some of this was written a week ago)

I have book envy. Babelbabe just reads way more than anyone I know, and has time to read articles about people reading on the subway.

So, books I've read/looked at/ordered through ILL these past two weeks:

Read in one sitting: Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (for the Mother Daughter book club last Saturday) (and afterwards I went to Baskin Robbins for Winter White Chocolate, yum!)

re-reading and re-reading and re-reading: Something Borrowed (about a girl who steals her best friend's fiance)

to children: a Charlotte Zolotow book whose title I've forgotten about morning and night; Beach Day, by Karen Roosa.

requested (some have come through already) through Interlibrary Loan:

The Curse (which is about the taboo of menstruation--(as in "No one will know you have your period" and how periods are never mentioned in books or movies. I read it back in 1998 or so and had to email a librarian today to find out the title--yes, even librarians have reference questions) (and, small world, the librarian who answered my question, from a library I used to go to in Virginia, used to work in Pittsburgh on the North Side.)

Built to Last and Good to Great on audio. (Good to Great, is, indeed, great! I luff Jim Collins. It's hysterical when I share with people that I get inspired by listening to business books on audio. I got a few odd smiles at the Women's Gathering. But hey, listening to how Walgreen became great is, well, great.)

Finished listening to on audio: Hoot, by Carl Hiassan. Very good. Chad Lowe is the "reader." I recommend him, and look forward to reading other Hiassan. This was my first.

Bought last week at Goodwill:

Lynne Cheney's alphabet book on America
Serenissima by Erica Jong (it's about Venice and it was 2.99--it's worth a try.)

Started reading last night b/c the author is coming to Pittsburgh: (and paid full price for the hardcover at Borders)

Real Sex by Lauren Winner. (The subtitle is "The Naked Truth about Chastity") (So, it's not, as the title might suggest, a manual. It's more, why God made sex for marriage alone.) (But it's not one of THOSE books, as in Elizabeth Elliot's Passion and Purity, which, when I read it ten years ago felt like a "perfect book for perfect people." Lauren is real, as in, "Mistakes have been made (by me!) and then I found out the real stuff, here's my story." I consumed Girl meets God, which is her story about her journey from Judaism to Christianity. She's a little easier to take than Annie Lamott (although I adore Annie). (But I know some people that shall remain nameless do not like her very much.)

What I really need, though, is some time to watch the videos and DVDs (as Sarah Louise prepares for the Olympics, Chariots of Fire sits on the backseat of my car....) (as do Mad Hot Ballroom, Leon the Professional, Serpico, and Marvin's Room.)

But tomorrow we're going (me, Lily and Holly), to see The End of the Spear. Um, better check box office times on that...

Not completely accurate trivia--thanks to Poppy!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Sarah louise!

1. In the 1600s, tobacco was frequently prescribed to treat headaches, bad breath and sarah louise!
2. Sarah louise cannot swim.
3. The Australian billygoat plum contains a hundred times more Vitamin C than sarah louise!
4. Sarah louiseomancy is the art of telling the future with sarah louise.
5. Sarah louise can't drink - she absorbs water from her surroundings by osmosis.
6. Sarah louiseology is the study of sarah louise.
7. Sarah louise can remain conscious for fifteen to twenty seconds after being decapitated.
8. Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14, and sarah louise has 7.
9. The state nickname of Iowa is 'The sarah louise state'.
10. Sarah louise can be very poisonous if injected intravenously!

http://thesurrealist.co.uk/trivia.pl" method="get" style="background-color:#5F5F42;color:#CFCF95;padding:4px;text-align:center">I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

The contents of a handbag, like good whisky in a charred oak barrel, ripen and improve with age.

(Peg Bracken, writer of the I hate to cook book and this great book)

Coretta Scott King died.

Here's a new trend: Who knew that the Steelers winning the AFC championship would cause a bump in the use of the post office? It appears that people are mailing their relatives Steelers stuff. When I went to my post office 152wouldn't you like to know, I overheard a customer telling one of the clerks that at the Squirrel Hill P.O. there were 100 people in line, the line snaking outside the building onto the sidewalk. I think the P.O. should create a Steelers stamp. Now THAT would up their revenue, big time.

Off to talk about Luke (the Gospel of)....

-SL

Reaping...

Why did I stop doing nursery Sunday mornings? Because I needed wiggle time if I was going to be spending an entire evening in a writing class. When do I go to church? Sunday evening.

When do I have time to do my homework for my class? Sunday mornings. I did many things on the not-to-do list: I checked my email. I wandered blogland. I wrote a short email to a friend. I wrote a long email to a friend. I checked all my email accounts. I emptied my i-spam box. I watched Jerry Falwell (which actually was a good idea, because it got me to stop fidgeting.) (I had no idea it was Jerry Falwell until the end.) I checked my email again.

Things I did not do: I did not google myself. I did not take out the trash, listen to NPR, visit NYTimes.com, organize my spice rack (should I get one?), or decide to floss.

Finally, fed up with my place in life (the place that cannot get Charles Osgood on CBS Sunday Morning) I read January in May I have this Dance? by Joyce Rupp. And somewhere in the middle of the road, I put the book down and did my homework. Now I'm going to watch Sliding Doors. After I de-spy my computer. Arrivaderci! (Au revoir!)

My homework, for those of you who would like to take my writing class too: A man takes lunch to his wife's office, where he's told she hasn't worked there in weeks. --from The Writer's Book of Matches.

Late? Me? Typical...

So I have to get groomed and back to the "Women's Gathering," but I wanted to ask this of yins: have you ever played Bunco? It is this amazing game...more later.

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you & be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. --Numbers 6:24-26

Seed for the sower

If you are a fan of this blog, you know a couple of things: "You've got mail" is in my VCR more often than any other movie, usually to combat insomnia. I have multiple pairs of pink sneakers. I love my garett. I love the Golden Globes. You probably also know that my current "Vision Verse" (okay that's a phrase I just made up, but I don't know what else to call it) is Hosea 10:12. Erin, my friend over at Biscotti Brain, just emailed me this verse, 2 Corinthians 9:10: (in the Amplified Translation)

"And [God] Who provides seed for the sower and bread for eating will also provide and multiply your [resources for] sowing and increase the fruits of your righteousness [which manifests itself in active goodness, kindness, and charity]."

A few other favorites on sowing: (okay, just one)

"He who goes out weeping, carrying the seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:6)

It reminds me of the verse that Joke always has to remind me of the address: "Weeping tarries for the night, but joy comes in the morning."

My tulips have lived their span. I bought them at Whole Foods for 6.99!! last week. They were pink tulips, my favorites. What kind of seed brought the silk flowers on my desk (brown eyed Susans), at the top of my stairwell (yellow flowers, delicate), on my new Ikea dresser (red tulips, with fake drops of dew), and on my dining room table (pink tulips)?

"You walk by and I fall to pieces" --Patsy Cline, on WJAS, right now.

I'm on the desk at noon, so I'm taking my time this morning. Can't find the digi camera, which is why you are not seeing show and tell pix of my computer. It's a black Dell Dimension desk-top.

Say a prayer for the Women's Gathering at Bellefield this weekend. After spending time at the Open Door which is male dominated in a not so bad way, I think I will be in shock to be surrounded by the women who know me, who have seen me through my life...but as Babelb said when we spoke yesterday, "It will be a good thing."

I will also be in shock to not be working on Saturday!! I have tickets to see Miss Saigon on Saturday and tickets to see Chris Tomlin on Sunday. So I think now I need to sift through my mail, pay some bills, and get over to the place that pays me to answer questions like "Do you have any books on Gray Wolves?"

The Meme of Joke (a work in progress)

Joke is one of my favorite e-friends. He is also very smart. This has got to be the best meme I've seen come down the pike. Due to circumstances in and out of my control, the Sarah Louise plan for today has been changed, so I have time to sit here and meme away. I will be adding my own comments b/c I am just that kind of gal. I'm a girl, so I'm not really sure any of this will help you to REALLY understand me, but this is your Cliff Notes version. Yeah, I'm really sure this won't help you very much, especially when you scroll down to the cities you should visit (I don't know about the lurkers, but most of y'all don't have the ready cash or time to spend time going to Warsaw or Tegucigalpa.)

Movies You Need To See To Understand Me Better:
You've Got Mail
Shakespeare in Love
Adventures in Babysitting
High Fidelity
Cutting Edge
Twister
Picture Perfect
Home Alone
Man in the Iron Mask
Three Musketeers (the one with Sheen, Sutherland, and Platt)
Enchanted April
Persuasion
Drive me crazy
A Knight's Tale
Love, Actually
Runaway Bride
Metropolitan
Jerry Maguire
About a Boy
Brokedown Palace
The Mighty Ducks Trilogy
Joy Luck Club
Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. (not the Continuing story, please!)
Sweet Home Alabama
Career Girls

Albums You Need To Listen To Understand Me:
Really Rosie (yes, as in the TV show which I watched once. The album was listened to umpteen times)
Tapestry
Glass Houses
A New Standard (Steve Tyrell)
How to dismantle an atomic bomb
Jill Sobule (self-titled album)


TV Shows You Need to (Have) Watch(ed) To Understand Me:
Sesame Street
WKRP in Cinncinati
Taxi
Cosby (not the one where he is Herr Doctor Huxtable.)
Boy Meets World
Dawson's Creek
Friends (yes, all 10 seasons)
The Muppet Show
Sex and the City


Books You Need To Read To Understand Me:
Trixie Belden
Bright Lights, Big City
The Crack a Joke Book
Persuasion
Writing down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls do
Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology
Lucy Maud Montgomery: the Anne books and the Emily books
pretty much all of Madeleine L'Engle
Cynthia Voigt before she moved to Maine (ie, read the Tillerman cycle, do not read the Bad Girls series)
most of Judy Blume (but not her stuff for adults, which really stink)
Traveling Mercies (the audio book)
Harry Potter 1-6 (on audio, with Jim Dale)
The Bible (in various translations, my favorite being the Jerusalem)
The Nanny Diaries
The Cloister Walk
Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up
Girl's Poker Night
Something Borrowed and its sequel, Something Blue


Comic Strips that often mirror my life:
Sylvia by Nicole Hollander
Unshelved

Comics I adore:
Calvin and Hobbes
Peanuts

Games You Need To Play To Understand Me:
Scrabble
Trivial Pursuit

Musicals/Plays You Need To See To Understand Me:
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
Carnival
Fiddler on the roof (NOT THE MOVIE)
The Importance of Being Earnest
Man of La Mancha

Periodicals You Need To Read To Understand Me:
American Libraries (free with your membership to the American Library Association, the folks that brought you the fabulously mediocre sounding Newbery, Criss Cross) (wasn't that a rap group in the early 90s?)
Sassy (the first 2 years)
Victoria (the early years)
Good Housekeeping

Catalogs You Need To Get--not necessarily order from--To Understand Me Better:
Oriental Trading (Beth and I spent desk time yesterday flipping through this, critiquing the variety of, well, crap)

Places You Need To Visit To Understand Me Better:
Pittsburgh, PA
Warsaw, Poland
Bonn, Germany
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Silver Spring, MD

Radio Shows You need to (Have) Listen(ed) To Understand Me:
Music Americana with Dick Serey
Saturday Lite Brigade (pre and post-WYEP days)
A Prairie Home Companion

Restaurants, etc.
Tazza D'Oro
61C
Pizzera Uno
Le Petit Trianon (yes, the one in Warsaw, Poland)
Chi Chis
Mad Mex
Wendys
The drug store lunch counter (c'mon, you didn't think I'd give FULL disclosure, did you?)

Life is short, handle with prayer

Best bumper sticker today: "Born OK the first time." I was tickled pink!

Wednesday used to be the night Lily did laundry, but now that I'm taking this writing class Monday nights, we've switched. The weather made me stop and get a fish filet at McD's (I hate traffic, and I hate traffic and I hate snow and traffic.) (I don't take the back roads when it snows, just do the math.) So anyways, sitting in the parking lot, thinking my head is about to explode because the teenagers in the library are insane, plus a boy scout troop showed up needing books on Gray Wolves and Bald Eagles...I called Emily. Wow. I vented, she vented, I vented, she vented. I don't think either of us realized how much we needed to vent. It's hard work being single at 30+. She's going to a wedding this weekend, I'm going to a women's retreat. We were feeling the Devil breathe down our necks about who we'd run into at our respective social outings. So we sat there on the phone and prayed. I swear, praying friends are the best kind. If you find one, don't ever ever let her go! Then I drove to Lily's, listening to Jim Collins talk about Level 5 Leaders in "Good to Great." We went to Panera, and I tried to explain to her why Something Borrowed is such a great book. Now, Lily is one of those people that doesn't read Harry Potter because she thinks the books are getting kids interested in witchcraft. I don't argue with the woman, it's easier not to. So me telling her that I'm finding redemption in a book about a woman sleeping with her best friend's fiance is not scoring me any points. (Open mouth, insert foot.) Tonight she told me that the Lord brought her into ministry using the book of Ezekiel, where the Lord says to Ezekiel, "If I tell you a man is going to die because of his sins and you don't tell him I said this and he then *does* die from his sins, his blood is on your hands." Oh. Okay. Well then. That explains a lot. But let me tell you, we prayed too, and stuff came out in our prayers that did not come out in our conversation, and when we stopped praying I said, you know, I forgot to mention this issue, I really need to pray about that, and we prayed some more. What else happened tonight? A friend I was really mad at emailed me, and I ran into a woman who told me about a writing workshop at a nearby church with Lauren Winner. Yeah, um, THANK YOU ABBA for the harvest of today!! Oh, and when I went to the website for the church, I saw that a former roommate that also attends that church just had a baby, on Bep's birthday (Jan. 3) This is where you would cue that chorus of Handel's that goes "Hallelujah..."

Final score: Penguins 8, Capitols 1

What was that I said earlier about this being a day to celebrate hockey in da Burgh? Do you think Sidney Crosby was reading my blog before the big game? Cause somehow, the message got through, pretty loud and clear, I'm thinkin'.

Ways that librarians use their libraries: caught in bumper to bumper traffic, not exactly sure what time it is or what time the Pen's game is, but realizing it's about that time and I'm on that bridge where the Pen's traffic piles up: "Public Library, can I help you?" "Yes, what time does the Pen's game start?" (Because my library is #5 on my cell phone's speed dial.) "Let me check" (And I'm thinking Carrie, the librarian who answered the phone, is wondering what kind of a patron asks that as a reference question) "It starts at 7." "So I'm thinking that the traffic jam I'm in will be dissapating soon?" "Well, it's about quarter of, now." "Thank you!" "You're welcome."

I'm such a satisfied library patron I might write a comment card saying that Carrie the librarian helped me out of a traffic jam (since, as a result of this phone exchange, I took the exit not to Mellon Arena and got to Bloomfield in much better time than I would have otherwise.) Folks, this is what your library can do for you! Think of the time and gas I saved on that one! (Not to mention that traffic jams make me cranky.)

Now, will I ever come clean to Carrie that I was the crazy patron calling from the traffic jam to ask when the Pens game was? I wonder....

In other library news, here are a few blogs that libraries are using to publicize what they do.

Johnson County Library
Marin County Free Library
LibDex Library Blogs

And, today's number one reason I am glad to work at Public Libary No. 5:

Today in the book shop, I scored 2 books in the Griffin and Sabine trilogy, books I sold for cash when I was dirt poor. How much did I pay, you ask? With my employee discount and myself saying, charge me more for these books and a Coke, 3 dollars and change!! Do you think God was trying to get my attention about lost things? These are HARDCOVERS with a cover price of 17.95 each. I think I got $12.oo for grocery money when I sold all three books in 1997.

The number two reason I am glad I work at Public Library No. 5: I get to sit on the floor and sing with moms and babies for a half hour Wednesday mornings.

The number three reason I am glad...etc.: Lunch with Marian the Librarian. We were wearing matching pink turtlenecks today. It was almost sickening. Be glad my camera was at home.

Adieu Lemieux

(Yes, this was an actual cover headline on a Pittsburgh paper this morning.) Lemieux is no dummy, either. On the week when everybody is so frenzied about football, Mario gives us something else to talk about, if only for a day. One of my Mother Goose moms today said to me, it’s so nice to have a place to go for an hour where no one is talking about football. Gee, that’s the nicest thing a patron has said to me all year! (I mean 2006.) I own no yellow clothing, and no black pants, but I have about a week and a half to plan my wardrobe for Superbowl Friday (although at our library, if you work in circulation, every Friday is Black & Gold day—I think you get points off your performance review if you don’t comply.)

From a commentary in today’s Post Gazette: “You'd have to go back almost 100 years to the Pirates' Honus Wagner to find an athlete who accomplished as much or who dominated his sport for so long while wearing a Pittsburgh uniform.” Bob Smizik

The guy is a national treasure, and an all around great guy. This is from an article about the Pens being Stillers fans and vice versa: “The Penguins are scheduled to travel to Ottawa the day of the Super Bowl but should be able to arrive well before the opening kickoff. Indeed, they bumped their flight to Philadelphia Sunday up an hour -- at the behest of owner Mario Lemeiux, who didn't even make the trip -- so that players, coaches and team staffers could get settled into their hotel before the AFC title game began.”

A lot of the articles are saying it’s a sad day for hockey, but I think it’s a day to celebrate the man who almost single-handedly saved the Pens franchise from bankruptcy, helped it win so many Stanley cups, and…I could gush all afternoon. I’m kind of sad to say that I’ve only ever seen him play once, and that was the game when he returned to the ice in 2000, sitting in a bar in Falls Church, Va. (While I love hockey, I have never had cable while in Pittsburgh or lived in a household that paid for the sports channels.) For more, go here: Post-Gazette.com.

In other news, a new book has hit the bookstore shelves: Punxsutawney Phyllis. It looks like a Groundhog day version of that feminist book on Easter, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes.

I've started reading "Looking for Alaska" the Printz award book and it's good. Reader beware: it will very likely be banned for content found in the first 25 pages. Oh well, that's why we love YA Lit! C'mon, I've been reading Judy Blume since I was 9!

Oh, and Chad Lowe does a wonderful job on the audio version of Hoot. I definately recommend reading this (or listening to it) before the movie hits the theatres in the spring. Right now I'm listening to "Good to Great" and learning all about Level 5 leaders: Abraham Lincoln was the only president that was one.

It's almost the witching hour when the teens come traipsing up the hill to the library--time for me to powder my nose. Catch ya on the flip side, dudes and dudettes! (Oh, how corny can I be???)

It’s the friends you can call up at four a.m. that matter.

(Marlene Dietrich, German actress)

Sit down with paper and pen and really give your former employer a piece of your mind. Write down everything, no matter how petty or nasty. Feel free to swear, yell, blame, accuse -- whatever you feel you need to say. Let it out. Don't hold back. Then read this letter, out loud, to your best friend/husband/boyfriend/dog. When you're done, provided you said what you really wanted to say, rip the letter into tiny pieces and throw it into the garbage. Do not save a copy for your files, no matter how brilliant you think the letter is. Toss it.
–from Ask Jane Dough, WWS Daily,

As some of you know, I started a writing class on Monday. The best thing the teacher said was if you are mad at someone, don’t use writing as your vehicle. Do something else. She told us about a story she had published and when she read it, she realized she could never let her sister read it b/c the premise of the story was based on a grudge she still harbored. So let me be the first to say that I definitely live in a glass house, here at Pink Sneakers N’at.

One item that I would really like to clear up (for the 6 or so people that read it before I deleted it from cyberspace) is this: Emily and I chatted last night, and for the record, we’ve decided that our one criterion for a “man’s man” is one who is not afraid that we’ll reject him. Men and women are clearly wired differently, but one thing remains: men need to buck up and do the pursuing. We’ll do our best to let you down lightly, if the occasion necessitates such action.

Meme's the word!

I love a good juicy meme, and Joke has created a wonderful one. I won't have time to post mine before Thursday or Friday (b/c this meme deserves time and attention) but I wanted y'all to be able to see Joke's and Gina's lists. Badger contributed as well.

I heart Queen Latifah!

A quote from Last Holiday: "If you're reading this, my disease has taken its course. I want to be cremated. I spent my whole life in a box, I don't want to spend [the rest of my time] in one." The brackets are b/c I don't remember the *exact* quote, just the gist.

I was a goody two shoes until my senior year of high school. I blame Susan Fry. No, I did it on my own, she was just the best side-kick a girl could ever ask for (and still is--I love ya, babe!). I rebelled quietly during high school by watching soap operas (which my mother strictly forbade) and staying up to watch Moonlighting with the babysitter (who sat for my sibs so I could go to Girl Scouts or do homework while my parents attended a Bible Study).

So it completely surprised me when at 24 I sassed at my boss, realized that all the men I'd been dating had long hair, and that I was no longer a goody two shoes.

Last night when I finished watching Twister, which I hadn't watched the whole way through for years, I realized that after I kissed AJ Morning at 17 (yes, that's his real name, I think it's better than any alias I could create) I wanted danger in my life. I was tired of living in a box.

And I am. There's more to me than the pink sneakers. There's more to me than my obsession with Reese Witherspoon (who is no goody two shoes) or my love for chick flicks and chick lit. Why am I a children's librarian? It's not b/c I loved children (although I now adore them), it's because most books for adults are DULL and BORING!! I think adults so often find a good box and continue their life there. Fortunately, I don't have friends like that--all my friends are rebels in their own right. (Yes, all of them...I can see "inside people" like that chick in Enchanted April.)

And for the record, I love imdb.com. It's the movie watching librarian's best friend. I could spend hours there...

Oh, and predictions: Joke will comment, revealing himself as the only guy I know (rebel!) that loves Enchanted April.

Hockey, Twister, and "Why men hate church"

Okay, yins know I love pink, happy endings, Reese Witherspoon, "You've Got Mail," and hockey. Okay, maybe you didn't know I love hockey. So I'll say it: I love hockey. I think it is the best sport ever created. So there. You know where my allegiances lie.

My favorite movie a few years ago was "Twister." I probably broke the record of most views in the theatre of a movie that wasn't Star Wars. (It was partially therapeutic.) Now, most women didn't like that movie. Please, correct me if I'm wrong! Why? Because the movie was critically acclaimed for its special effects. Oh gag me. But hey, men dig that kind of stuff. Why did I even go to see Twister? Well, Helen Hunt is a favorite of mine, for one. But I was working at Barnes & Noble at the time and a woman who was buying the Rolling Stone with Helen Hunt on the cover had seen the movie. "So what's it about?" I asked her. "It's about this husband and wife who are about to get a divorce and in the end they don't" (okay, this may not be an exact quote, but this was almost 10 years ago...) Now, did YOU ever hear that as the description for the movie Twister?

Here are two from imdb.com:

TV weatherman Bill Harding is trying to get his tornado-hunter wife, Jo, to sign divorce papers so he can marry his girlfriend Melissa. But Mother Nature, in the form of a series of intense storms sweeping across Oklahoma, has other plans. Soon the three have joined the team of stormchasers as they attempt to insert a revolutionary measuring device into the very heart of several extremely violent tornados.
Summary written by Martin Booda

When Bill goes to have Jo sign the divorce papers so he can marry his new girl, Melissa, Jo finds a collection of record breaking tornados and Bill follows along, soon his duties shift from divorcing Jo to helping her with record breaking technology to create a better warning system.
Summary written by Joe Kibler

See: they mention the first scene in the movie, Bill going to get the divorce papers signed by Jo, but then they get caught up in the science of the flick. Both summaries are written by men.

I don't have a problem with that, btw. That's why I like men: they give a different perspective.

And that's what this book Why Men Hate Church, is all about. Church (most churches) has become a place where men are on staff but women run the show. Volunteer opportunities listed in the bulliten at the church I used to attend from yesterday: Ongoing: help with art projects for the kids programs. One time: fix the train table. Now, you gotta commend them for even having a project for the men. But the one that says women all over it is listed first and is "ongoing." What message do I get? Women are always needed. The one that says men is listed second and is "one-time." What message do I get? Men are useful to fix things that are broken, every once in a while.

It's quarter after nine and I'm sure I have stuff to do, (like laundry, ugh) so I'll stop here. But I'll be posting on this as I continue to read David Murrow's book. Please comment--I love a lively discussion.

One for the thumb

Here we go Steelers--to the Superbowl!

Now, yins know I am not a football fan, but I am a Pittsburgher, so I rejoice in this latest sporting event: Steelers 34, Broncos 17.

I don't get CBS unless I hook my TV up to the VCR that doesn't work (see, it almost takes too much time to type that, why bother doing it) so I watched the last half hour of the game in black and white and on mute. There is a house of men behind my house, and whenever something big happened, you'd hear a shout. When the game ended, they burst into "Here we Go Steelers, Here we Go!"

So church is in 10 minutes and I guess I have to come up with something to eat for dinner. I was thinking this morning that I "pity the fool" that had to give the sermon if we lost the game.

There are cars going up the street, just honking their horns. Woo hoo!!

***
everyone's doing movie quotes. I'm not so good at that, but here are a few things I say a lot:

"I pity the fool" (from Friends, quoting The A-team)
"I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats." (which I think is from an ad for something...)

The parents are back from Antartica!!

(I never read their itinerary b/c they sent it in an attachment and I just never got around to opening it!) So I called to see how swing dancing was (Bep went with a friend last night) and my dad answered!! Apparently my insomnia (3 am to 5:45) occured while they were flying over Barenquia, Colombia, which is where I was concieved, so my mom said, it sounds like you were very aware of what was going on! I did get 8 1/2 hours, though, just at either end of the 2:45 hrs. Happy Sunday everyone, GO STEELERS!!

To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.

(Bernadette Devlin McAliskey)

Do you like my hat?

I do not!
Goodbye!
Do you like my hat?
I do not!
Goodbye!

(to be edited later when I get my hands on a copy of Go Dogs Go)

Hallelujah! Emily's birthday present just came in the mail--woo hoo!

I am chipping away at dirty dishes, laundry, etc. But I need a goal, so it's off to movies.yahoo.com to see when I can catch a matinee--I'm thinking Last Holiday with Queen Latifah--yes!!