Anne Hathaway's Oscar worthy performance

My whole family watched tonight's Oscar broadcast.  All of the movies I wanted to win won.  All of the actors I wanted to win won.  I was happy. 

I wanted to offer my congratulations to Anne Hathaway.  (Regular readers know my interest in her career.  We shared a moment in a Chicago airport many years ago.)  Anyhow.  Anne Hathaway, congratulations on your well deserved Oscar win.  Your performance was amazing and it is a pleasure watching you and your career. 

Congratulations to Jennifer Lawrence.  Amazing. 

D.

Karma, Coincidence and Keys

(Note:  This is a little story from when my kids were growing up.  Must have been about 15 years ago.  Enjoy.)
 
I believe in God. I believe in Karma.  I believe in coincidence.

Let me explain a weekend I had several years ago and we'll see if there is something spiritual in it. 

My wife and I decided to go to La Jolla - a well to do village near the beach - with our kids to look at a friends' artwork at a gallery.  We hadn't seen her artwork and were wondering how talented she was.  She is good.  Was selected one of the top 100 artists in So Cal.  Everything was going great.  My wife mentioned that it was her mothers' birthday.  She died when our daughter was six months old so it was kind of hard for my wife.  She said her mom would have gotten a kick out of my son, Timmy.  He is a goofball.  He is a lot of fun.  I told my wife that her mother is getting a kick out of the kids.  She is watching all of the time.  'But I digress.  I figured that my wife would like to go up to the top of the local mountain.  We fell in love in the mountains, maybe that would cheer her up.  Besides the kids had never been up there.

So we go up to the top of the mountain.  It was kind of foggy but it was still nice. We played around there for a while watching my daughter, 7, do cartwheels on the grass and watching her brother try to emulate her. 

When we got to the time to leave, we couldn't get the car started.  I couldn't get the alarm to shut off.  I've got a kill switch and I couldn't bypass it. 

It was hot, and the kids were hungry.  We started to walk down the hill.  Timmy, 3, wouldn't walk.  He has short legs.   I ended up carrying him as much as I could. 

There was a church about a mile down the hill.  Church was just letting out.  We asked about a phone (this was before cell phones) and a lady asked us if we needed any help.  I explained the trouble and she said her husband is an electrical engineer.  He fixed her alarm switch.  Maybe he could fix mine.

He looked at it and cleaned it.  He said that might do it.  So he offered me a lift up the hill. 

When we got up there the car still wouldn't start.  I was really getting mad.  We drove around the hill and on the other side a tow truck had overheated.

I asked the driver if he could help me.  He said that he was broken down.  He couldn't help.  But he knew what the problem was. 

He pointed to the radio towers on an adjacent ridge, about 100 yards away.  Those towers were blocking the transmission from my switch to my car.

He said I had to put the car into neutral and coast down the hill until I was out of range of the towers. 

So I did.  No power steering, no power brakes.  I turned on the radio before I left the top and figured I'd turn the ignition when I heard the radio.  About a mile down the hill I could hear the radio.  Turned the ignition.  Bingo.  Started right up.

I went back to the church and picked up the wife and kids.  

So what do you think.  Coincidence???  Maybe...but.....

Both my wife and I thought that her mom was looking out for us.

I'm going to call it a spiritual weekend.

Crazy Weekend, Lazy Monday

I am tired.  You should not be tired on a Monday morning but how many of us find that our weekends are not relaxing?

 

Friday (and, indeed, all last week) I was having more computer problems at home.  Picked up a virus from somewhere (Java?)  My security software just didn’t cut it.  Had company X come out for a cleanup but it didn’t work.  Had them rescheduled for Saturday afternoon.  I spent Friday afternoon and evening getting the computer ready for back up and re-set.  Had chores and errands on Saturday morning and then home in time for the computer guy.  By 4PM it was clear he was a no-show so I got on the phone with support to complain.  The general number they gave me was the one I called.  It matched the number on the invoice from the previous call.  They transferred me to the group that could help me.  And then they transferred me again.  And again.  SIX times.  Still no support.  What a racket. 

Finally, I scrapped my internet explorer and downloaded Mozilla Firefox. The previous operating system Manufacturer and Company X are no longer on my Christmas list.  Luckily, I now have my computer back.  I was hoping to finish some projects by the end of the month.  Oh well.  Excuses.  I should just stay up late and write. Not tonight though. I took a pill – a muscle relaxer.   Stressing out about the computer and my plans, I was aching and just wanted a good night’s sleep.  Not staying up late tonight.  But…

Be careful what you wish for…or Man Plans, God laughs.

Last night was the Golden Globes.  Normally, on a Sunday night my wife and I sit in the living room and watch our shows.  Last night the kids joined us.  My daughter came over to watch the Globes.  The cats, sensing something special was going on were extremely high strung and excited.  About an hour into the Globes my son got up from his seat and stepped on our male cat’s tail.  The cat bolted and ran into the other room.  My son came back to his seat and noticed that the end of my cat’s tail was still on the carpet.  Poor thing severed about an inch off of his tail.  He was bleeding so, after a rather excited and tumultuous 15 minutes, I got the cat corralled and bundled into a towel.  Off to the pet emergency room for me.  My son was concerned enough to join me.  My wife and daughter stayed to watch the Golden Globes.(They would just be freaking out at the ER anyway.)

The vet said this sort of thing happens quite a lot.  Well, not to us.  Got the cat settled in at the vet.  They said they needed to amputate the last two inches of our cat’s tail.  Operation would be about five hours and we could pick him up  at some time after 11:30 PM. I didn’t get home till almost midnight.  Gave the cat his medicine (for pain and antibiotics) and finally went to bed.  But it was sure hard getting up at 5:AM Monday morning.  

Addendum:  Oh, by the way, congratulations to Anne Hathaway for her Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actress.  I have written about Anne here previously.  

Update:  The cat is doing fine.  Back to his old self, minus some fur and part of his tail.  Life goes on.  

A limerick from my past.  (Thanks Mr. Merriman.):


"I sat next to the duchess at tea,
It was just as I feared it would be.
Her rumblings abdominal
Were simply phenominal
And everyone thought it was me"


That was fun.

Very well known limerick. 

Happy Thanksgiving

The turkey is stuffed and placed in the oven.
Time for breakfast. Stomach, stop rumblin'.
Coffee's the thing, still tastes like crap,
Ah forget it, think I'll take a nap.

Sez me.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Last Saturday

Last Saturday morning I was fixing breakfast for my dad. My wife had gone to Houston for a four day weekend of fun, frivolity, and retail therapy with her sisters. One of the sisters arranged a train trip to Galveston for the four of them and assorted and available spouses. My wife, knowing my affinity for trains, texted me a photo taken out the train window, with the caption “On the train, Choo, Choo!”.

I texted back, “Breakfast with Dad, Chew, Chew!”

Sorry, had to share that pun.

Texas Highway, June, 1979

Stopping on the side of a West Texas highway, my two brothers and I, and my brother's friend, Tiger, paused to admire the lightning storm in the disance.  Late afternoon, 3PM, on our way to Vegas.  I, the poet, got out of the car with my Kodak Instamatic 126, trying to capture the picture, the spider lightning, frozen in my eye. 

Ignoring the cries of my companions, eager to get to Vegas, I, the poet, respond to a different call. I respond to the weather, to the God who placed us in this spot, at this time, to experience his wrath and kindness, his healing gifts.  I respond to the spot, the present, the wrath and gifts. 

My companions see only the road, the long journey, two days ahead.  I, relish the rain.

d.

I Remember Chocolate

I remember chocolate.  I remember the first time I missed it.  I remember family dinners, the enticing desserts if we cleaned our plates, finished our  meals - the chocolate fudge, the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, the chocolate syrup on ice cream.  I remember the meals.  "Clean your plate." 

I remember cold broccoli, cold cabbage - cold, cold, mushy cabbage.  Horrible, cold cabbage, bland, unflavored, mushy, boiled cabbage. 

I remember my sister.  My sweet, adorable, wouldn't hurt a fly, sister.  I remember her telling me later that she thought the dog would eat it. But I ATE it.  I cleaned my plate.  she didn't.  I got blamed for the cabbage on the floor, under my chair. 

I remember desserts.  Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.  Yum.  Used to be my favorite.  I remember sitting there for an hour.  "Clean your plate."

I remember the dog getting my peanut butter cup.  I remember growing up, being an adult and always having chocolate in the apartment, in the house, as dessert, as a snack.  I remember working in the office, afternoon snacks, chocolate bars - the quick energy.  I remember those days.

I remember the days when  the energy boost did not come.  I remember the numbness, the thirst.  I remember the doctor telling me:

"Diabetes..."

I remember chocolate.

Waiting in Line

Today I took my wife to the movies.  Two people in front of us in line for tickets were a mom and her (?) three daughters.  The daughters were maybe three and four years old and an older one about five or six.  My wife noted that the little girls each had a little bag of Pirates Booty and a canned soda.

One of the younger girls, the 4 year old (?) had just finished her soda and was giddily wandering over to a nearby trash can.  She was going to throw her can away. When she walked away, her little sister (or friend) also walked with her. Then an amazing thing happened.  The older daughter followed the two little girls.

The soda girl threw away her can and returned with her other sister back to mom.  The look on the older sister's face told the tale.  She had an expression that I call "responsifortitude" - that duty and responsibility, that chore.  And the look, the precious look, she had was one of frustration and annoyance that she had to look after the little ones. 

D.

Amazing Les Miserables movie extended trailer

Had the opportunity tonight to watch the extended trailer for the upcoming movie, Les Miserables.  My whole family is looking forward to it.  We are going to make a Christmas movie our new family tradition.  And what better way than to watch Anne Hathaway star in this great musical drama. 

Regular readers of this blog know my infatuation with Anne(http://ponderingdave.blogspot.com/2011/02/2011-oscar-broadcast.html).  I think she is a tremendous actress.  I even had a momentary, not so close encounter with her in a Chicago airport, gosh, it must have been 10 or 11 years ago (http://ponderingdave.blogspot.com/2009/02/anne-hathaway.html). 

I cannot wait to see that movie.  Fascinating story.  Anne, I think you are fantastic. 

Stop by for dinner sometime.  I am a great cook and I need you to corroborate my Chicago story. 

Thanks.
d. 

Neighborhood Crosswalks and cultural rules

Whilst out walking with my wife one fine Sunday morn, we came to an intersection of neighborhood streets. We were on the home stretch and this street intersected with our street at an angle. Just as we approached the intersection an SUV approached from our right. He pulled up to the stop sign. I had stopped and was waiting for him to drive on.

The driver signaled for us to go ahead and cross the street. Since he signaled us, we were obliged to walk in front of the SUV. We did, even though the best angle to cross the street would have been to walk behind the vehicle and to let the driver drive on.  But is that jaywalking?  Even if no one is around?

We are a nation of rules; a people of rules.  We have habits, cultural habits, that are often hard to break even when the simple way is the best.   

Sometimes I just wander around the house and just wonder. I wonder why. Why I am not the person I wanted to be. Why am I not the person I set out to be?  Maybe it is because of so many rules - cultural, societal, work, life.  So many unwritten rules.  I have to work.  Have to pay the bills.  I work because it is not permissable for an able bodied adult male to sit around and type words on a computer. 

I must learn to break the rules. 

"Trout fishing in America", or "catch and release"

Ok, yes, I borrowed a title from Richard Brautigan. And another title from a movie.  Wow. How unoriginal is that?  Oh nevermind.

I was thinking today.  I don't know how I got started on this.  But, trout fishing?  Is their trauma on the fish, as he is taken from the water, hook removed and then returned to the stream?  Is it a spiritual occasion for the poor fish?  Does the fish go through some sort of near death experience?  Does he share that experience at "school" the next day?

 I have heard it said that fishes have a 3-second memory span.  So, I guess not. 

 These are the questions that I think about on occasion.  I lead an interesting life.  

D.

Quote

I read a review about an upcoming book on the friendship between Sarte and Camus.  Apparently they were both 'smitten' by the same young actress.  Each had an affair of sorts with her. I came across a quote about love that I thought apropos for a poet.  And I am sure a lot of people feel this way.  Not this poet.  I love my wife dearly and she is the purpose and pleasure of my life.  I just wanted to share this. 

"...But perhaps Camus had their close encounter in mind when he wrote: 'It is necessary to fall in love – the better to provide an alibi for all the despair we are going to feel anyway.'

The Boxer and the Goalkeeper by Andy Martin is published by Simon & Schuster.

Dinner without phones

My wife and I went out to dinner the other night.  We left our cell phones at home.  Imagine that.  I think we both just wanted a nice quiet evening alone together with no distractions. 

I came home from work that afternoon, went through the mail, paid the bills and waited for my son to come home from his first job.  That kid is amazing.  Most of the summer he has been sitting in front of the xbox, either blowing up aliens, zombies or the enemy of the day, and it has been a chore sometimes to get him to utter more than one syllable about how his day went.  These days, a little more than a week into his first real job, he comes home and has so much to share. 

That afternoon he was talking about how much work they did.  He said he finally feels like one of the guys because they started joking with him, and even playing harmless little practical  jokes.  He had plans for the evening, so he told me all about those.  Then he mentioned that he would be home early because he has to work in the morning.  Wow.  Is this my kid?  He seems so different. 

My wife came home shortly after my son left for his evening.  I told her we were alone.  Hmmm.  What do you want to do?  Let's go out to dinner.  Let's have someone wait on us.  And so we did.  A nice little sushi place around the corner (and down the street, past the medical offices across from the bank).  well, it's in the neighborhood. 

Quiet?  Right.  The place was crowded - happy hour.  And I could hardly hear her talk.  Funny, I could have used my cell phone just to talk to  her.  And we were the only ones.  The only ones with out cell phones.  The place was full.  We had to wait to be seated- longer than five minutes.  People were talking on their phones to people about work.  People were texting.  (I would have loved to take a picture of what I ordered but...I left my cell phone at home.) 

Later, on the drive home, my wife was worried that we missed some important message from one of the kids.  She mentioned that they have never known a world without cell phones.  Indeed, when they were younger they didn't much care.  But as they got older, they had phones. 

Amazing how our lives have become.  I long for the day without phones.  What a quiet world that will be. 

D.

Work - challenges

This week has been, uh, interesting.  Work is always a place of intrigue and mystery.  I get my job done,  mostly accurate and on-time but there is always something that can go wrong.  Always some challenge to overcome.

Those challenges this week left me depressed.  That depression might have roots in my personal life but it manifested itself at work.  I just found it hard to get into the swing of things this week.  Maybe it was my first full week back after vacation.  Maybe it was all the changes from the merger; new organizations, new bosses, new rules and processes.  I don’t know.  Maybe all of those things. 

I have two vocations actually. I am a technical writer by day and a poet and other writer by ni…., by whenever I feel like it.  Which, truthfully, hasn’t been that often.  But I did manage to send some poems out to a magazine.  I was hoping to be published.  Hoping?  Yeah, this is the time for hope, and like that great hope of four years ago, my hope for publication went sour too.  I received a rejection letter, actually an e-mail.  Very curt, short and not so sweet, considering the outcome I had hoped. 

At any rate, this event and the events at work, caused some reflection on my part.  That reflection led to my depression.  I was going through the motions the last few days trying to cheer myself up.  I looked back at all the things I had set out to do and that I had accomplished.  I have gotten every job I wanted.  I wanted to be a writer, I became a writer.  I have a good career. 

I have also wanted to be a poet.  I really don’t understand what I do or how I do it.  I just write, my poetry, I mean.  It just comes from a spiritual place.  I try to work at it but I really don’t know much about the inner workings.  Or the technical terms of poetry.  I just write. 

So, I was talking to my wife the other day about my funk.  I mentioned that I tried to snap out of it by looking at my accomplishments.  I said I hadn’t accomplished anything that I really wanted.  (I wanted to be a famous poet and writer).  Then it occurred to me.  “I wanted to be a writer.”  I have made about $7.00 at poetry.  But as a writer (Ok, a technical writer), I have made a career.  For the last 25 years that is what I have been doing. 

I realize now, when I wished for this life, when I asked God for this, to be called a writer.  I guess I should have been more specific.  I should have asked for the ability to write a novel or stories or plays.  I guess He just found the closest place for me.  Well, then.  Thank you, God.  It seems to have worked out. 

D.