Groundhog Day is #34 on 100 Years, 100 Laughs and #8 on their 10 Best Fantasy list.
I'm sure everyone's seen it, so no synopsis.
It's held up really well, and it made me miss Andie McDowell. (Why doesn't she act anymore?) And of course, Bill Murray is always great.
Hello all,
I am in dire need of an original photo that would look nice on our website (church) for our Christmas Eve candlelight service. It doesn't have to be candles - it could a Christmas tree, fireplace...just something that says "cozy", "calm", "peace", "quiet celebration", etc.
Anyone have one I might borrow/use for a few weeks?
This sucks.
I guess I should be optimistic, but it's hard. I know that's dramatic, but guess what folks, I don't have THAT much to be really excited about.
I remember talking to one of my best friends at the end of 2008, and she said to me, "2009 is going to be a big year for you, I just know it."
Surprise. It wasn't. I moved out with a friend, she moved, I moved back to my mom's. I re-upped at school, again. I guess I am that bored. (Although, I really do want to teach.) And I was broken up with severely, by the man I thought I was going to marry. Wow. Rough.
I was just talking to another of my best friends a couple weeks ago who (without knowing what the other friend said) predicted that "next year is going to be a big year for you."
Well, shit. I sure hope so.
Borrowed from: the Sacramento Library (although, if someone wanted to get it for me for Christmas, I would love them forever and ever)
Rating: 10 out of 10
Synopsis: God in couples counseling? Sounds sacrilegious, but in the adept hands of comedian, writer and actress Isaacs, it's a success. Isaacs reached bottom at age 40: no job, no boyfriend, no home. Of course, she blamed God. So off they went to counseling with the ever-patient therapist Rudy. Isaacs moves easily between recounting her life story and her counseling sessions. She describes encounters with the Nice Jesus of her Lutheran upbringing; the Oakie Pentecostal church and the militant counselor; the Rock-n-Roll church and the Orthopraxy, Dude church, plus her rocky acting career and her love life, including guilt-ridden sex and Mostly Mister Right. Isaacs readily admits to being snarky, but she's honest about her quest and its conclusion. She's funny, biting, earthy and brilliant.
Review: I've been putting off writing this review because of just how much I loved this book and I don't feel like my review can do it justice. Susan Isaacs is a) raw, b) brilliant, and c) hilarious. The literary device she created —of taking God to couples counseling—worked perfectly and did a great job of giving the whole book a cohesive feel that is sometimes absent from memoir. The evolution of God's voice throughout the book is especially well done. Reading about the difficulties Isaacs went through in her walk with God felt so much more real than a lot of other Christian books I've read in the past. It's like she's, this is going to sound crazy, an actual person. She is refreshingly honest and I just fell in love with her story and the way she dealt with what came her way. And did I mention she's funny? Bitingly funny. I couldn't recommend this book more highly to all of my Christian girlfriends and to anyone who's disillusioned with the church. We ended up reading it for my book club and every single person absolutely loved it.
Finished Tainted by Brooke Morgan.
I enjoyed this book, although I never really got sucked into it. Basically, it was good enough where I always wanted to keep reading but not so good that I had a hard time putting it down. (Solid read, though, and it's in paperback.)
Holly is a single mom (to five-year-old Katy). She doesn't really have much of a social life (partly due to Katy; partly because she's a homebody anyway). Katy's dad isn't in the picture and Holly's life is Katy and Henry (Henry is her grandfather, Katy's great-grandfather). And then she meets Jack. Jack's British and gorgeous. He sweeps Holly off her feet (as in they move in together pretty quickly and get married not too long after that). Everyone seems to love Jack, but is he really what he seems?
So, for the last week or so, Penny's been dealing with the after effects of picking up an infection after having worms (ick). But after a couple of days of antibiotics, she seemed to be doing pretty well. And today was the first day back on the mountain after having had her put on a steady diet of bland food, antibiotics (which she will eat disguised in Gruyere cheese --- that's right --- not cheese slices, not cheese sticks, not peanut butter, Gruyere) and boring old leash walks.
She had a great time and ran and ran and ran. As we were heading home, she still had plenty of energy and ran way ahead and I called her back. She came running with something being lightly chewed in her mouth. I think -- oh great, worm-filled coyote poop. She comes up and I tell her, "Drop It!" and (somewhat surprisingly) she does. Expecting to see some half-masticated turd, I look down and there is what is pretty clearly something's liver. About 3" by 2" with what I was pretty sure was the gall bladder port still attached. Mmmmm....yummy!
I think maybe it was a rabbit's -- though it seemed a little big (though honestly I don't know how big a rabbit's liver is...) -- maybe it was from a raccoon?
Anyway, Penny got some treats for dropping on command -- which I doubt were as appetizing as that liver, and she seemed quite pleased with herself all morning.
Happy Friday!
"The absolute holiness of God should be of great comfort and assurance to us. If God is perfectly holy, then we can be confident that His actions toward us are always perfect and just. We are often tempted to question God's actions and complain that He is unfair in His treatment of us. This is the devil's lie, the same thing he did to Eve. He essentially told her, "God is being unfair to you" (Gen. 3:4-5). But it is impossible in the very nature of God that He should be unfair. Because He is holy, all His actions are holy." Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
One of my favorite piano pieces is the Schubert-Liszt lied “Der Leiermann” from the song-cycle “Winterreise” (translated as Winter Journey), which describes a man’s journey as he leaves his home and travels through a winter landscape. “Der Leiermann” is actually the conclusion of the song-cycle. It’s haunting and beautiful and I love playing it, though – alas – I do not sing along.
Anyway, in contrast to the past couple of Christmases, our little pack is preparing for its own Winterreise – this year, The Beloved, Penny and I are going to go to visit the Beloved’s folks for Christmas. That’s all good, right? Lots of people travel for the Holidays.
Ours though is going to be something we’ve never quite tried before. We’re going by car. To Virginia. From California. Google maps says it’s about 2700 miles and should take about 42 hours to get there.
We haven’t really planned it out yet, but we’re conceptualizing the trip as 5-5-5 (5 days out, 5 days there, 5 days back). We’ll obviously take a more southerly route and keep a close eye on the Weather Channel before we make some road choices. Penny has done well in the car (and seems to settle when we hit the freeways) but has never had to do car duty like this.
Fortunately, we have a Garmin and wi-fi enabled devices and lots of websites that cater to finding pet-friendly lodgings. Hopefully, we won’t need to stay in any mangers.
And so, I put it to you:
We leave in two weeks!
Finished U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton.
Another fantastic Kinsey Millhone mystery. In this one, she's hired by someone who thinks he may know something about a decades-old kidnapping case. (He remembers seeing two guys burying something a couple days after a little girl was kidnapped.) She doesn't have much to go on, but that doesn't stop her. :)
I can't even tell you how much I love the Kinsey Millhone mysteries. I started reading them in high school after some friends pointed out that if I liked VI Warshawski, I'd probably be fond of Kinsey, too.
Some people get annoyed that these books are still set in the 1980s, but I think it's nice. Besides, if it moved to modern day, Henry would have to die, and I do not want Henry to die.
My Groups
-
Voxaholic Updated: 7 minutes ago
-
twitter Updated: Yesterday
-
now you know. Updated: 2 days ago
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
