GenX

Wrong question

~ MaryG ~ 3 Comments

What books do you want to read?

Bloganuary is asking the wrong question today. The Oscar nominations are out, so this is the time of year when you try to see some (or all) of the nominated films.

I’m in the “outraged” camp that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig did not get nominated for Best Actress and Best Director. WTF!

Here’s where I stand on the Best Picture nominees. (I’d like to see all of them eventually.)

American Fiction – seeing it tonight in a movie theater

Anatomy of a Fall – haven’t seen it yet

Barbie – saw it twice in movie theaters; LOVED it; it should win

The Holdovers – saw it in a movie theater, but probably would’ve been the same on a small screen; enjoyed the New England connection and scenes; more melancholy than I thought it was going to be

Killers of the Flower Moon – watched it last night on Apple TV; important story; beautifully made film, but I fell asleep a couple times (I knew it was 3.5 hours going in, but I had a drink and a weed gummy anyway, which was probably a mistake); DiCaprio is still hot – even when he’s playing pure evil with bad teeth

And yes, it’s a TRUE story. All Americans should watch it. I suggest coffee.

Maestro – watched it on Netflix a couple weeks ago; I’m a huge fan of Leonard Bernstein’s Broadway and classical music and have sung it many times (I even had a friend sing “One Hand, One Heart” from West Side Story at my wedding), so I was disappointed that there wasn’t more focus on his musical greatness; the big conducting scene gave me goosebumps, but the film is more about his marriage; didn’t need to see Bernstein snorting coke; the montage of Bernstein’s music which plays over the closing credits is one of the best parts of the film (listen until the very end)

Oppenheimer – saw it in a theater; other than the big blast scene, I found it pretty boring; I couldn’t keep all the white guys straight; the film is mostly about politics and would’ve been better as a miniseries; overrated!

Past Lives – haven’t seen it yet

Poor Things – saw it on New Year’s in a movie theater; it’s a weird, niche art film with a lot of explicit sex; I appreciate that it was making some interesting points about women and shame, but it’s too bizarre to be nominated for best picture

The Zone of Interest – haven’t seen it yet

Here’s the Leonard Bernstein display in the Musical Instrument Museum. The museum is well worth a visit if you find yourself in Phoenix.

Scallops and Slippers

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments
Bloganuary writing prompt
Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.
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I have not yet let go of Christmas. My tree and all my decorations are still up. I’ve never left a Christmas tree up this long. Maybe I’m delaying because I don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.  People keep congratulating me on my “retirement,” but maybe that’s just what people say when you’re around 60 and leave a job you’ve been doing for decades. In any case, a couple of favorite family traditions are Christmas-related, so I’ll write about those. 

My husband always makes his mother’s scallops for the first course of Christmas dinner. He uses her original handwritten recipe cards and serves them in her giant scallop shells (surprisingly, they’re dishwasher safe). My mother-in-law Duilia was a tremendous chef. She kept careful notes. I’m just now noticing the reference to “Claiborne & Franey” on the recipe cards. At first, I thought they were friends of hers, but Google tells me they were high-end food critics and cookbook authors who had “a lasting impact on culinary literature and culture.” Sounds about right.

My mother-in-law’s meticulous recipe card with some of my husband’s notes added in pencil. (Their cursive is so similar.)
Page 2 of the recipe card, which references (I think) Claiborne & Franey’s 1983 recipe for stuffed clams, which she adapted for scallops
Duilia’s Scallops, as served on Christmas 2023. They were insanely good this year.

Another Christmas tradition we’ve kept (this one from my side of the family) is “one present on Christmas Eve.” Kids get to open one present on Christmas Eve and it’s always some type of sleepwear. My son got slippers this year. He really liked them. He wore them around the house for the rest of his winter break and took them back to school when he left last Sunday.

Today was my deadline to take down my Christmas stuff, but I can already tell it’s not gonna happen. I’m giving myself a one-week extension. I will put away Christmas by February 1. I promise.

Related posts:

The Christmas Puzzle

The Old Recipe Box

Thoughts on long books

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments

What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?

Now that nearly all my time is leisure time, I need to structure my days to get certain things done. Yesterday, I spent the whole day reading. I finished a 589-page book! I haven’t read a book that long in years. “Great Circle” by Maggie Shipstead is an epic, multi-generational work of historical fiction with two main characters living in different times. My book group is discussing it soon, so I needed to finish it, and I did. (Patting myself on the back)

I used to read long books more often. I think everyone did. GenXers, remember “Evergreen” by Belva Plain? That was 698 pages long and we read it for fun – in high school. It was not unusual to have a huge bestseller in that page range.

Now, with the distraction of smart phones, I think it’s harder to get through a very long book. My diminished eye sight might be a factor too. Reading glasses get annoying after awhile.

I know many people like to listen to books now, which is a good option. My problem is that I fall asleep and have to rewind. If I turn actual pages, I know I won’t miss anything.

What do you think about 500+ page books? Do you still have the attention span to get through them? Are they even a thing for the TikTok generation?

The original cover of Evergreen, copyright 1979

Related post:

It starts with the glasses

Rooster update

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments
Bloganuary writing prompt
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
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I don’t have a pet right now, so I’m going to use this prompt to update you on the chicken situation nextdoor. As you may recall, the new neighbors built a chicken coop (fine), but then they got a rooster. He squawked all day long, beginning before 6am. While there is no rooster bylaw in my town (roosters are not prohibited), it was a clear disturbance of the peace – MY peace specifically. (My early-rising husband said he liked the sound of the rooster and had no interest in reporting it. I was on my own.) After e-mailing the Town Manager and learning that technically the rooster was allowed, I contacted the Board of Health who informed me that I could file a “noise nuisance” complaint, which I did. The Board of Health spoke to the neighbor, but the rooster was not removed.

A couple weeks later, at a neighborhood Labor Day gathering, I brought up the rooster with key neighbors (a “Karen” skill for sure). They agreed that the bird is annoying and should be removed. I got a couple of them to formally complain to the Board of Health. The Board of Health came back to the neighborhood and then, one morning in September, I heard it: the Sound of Silence. Aaah. Order is restored to Suburbia.

Hopefully, the rooster is on a nice farm somewhere. The funny thing is that now his ex-girlfriends come over to visit, which is fine. They’re cute and quiet. The only potential problem (for them) is the neighborhood coyote.

The chickens from next door visiting my yard
Uh oh

Related posts:

Cricket

The sugar test

American Smiler

Dream job

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

What’s your dream job?

I had a job I loved for many years and now it’s over. I worked with inspiring leaders and brilliant faculty and made great friends.

My work as a fundraiser contributed to the mission of terrific organizations that changed lives through music and the arts. The money I earned helped pay the bills and put two kids through college debt-free.

I had my dream job. I’m grateful.

Be Inspiring. Be Likable. (And more Paris pics)

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

Bloganuary writing prompt
What makes a good leader?
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In my experience, one key to leadership is being able to inspire people. You’ve got to: a) have a vision; and b) be able to communicate your vision in a way that makes others want to get behind it. This does not necessarily mean that your vision is a “good” or moral one. Massive numbers of people have gotten behind leaders with sickening visions. Hitler is the most obvious example, but Trump is another one. He’s literally running on revenge and lies.

I learned a lot about two of the most famous leaders of France on my trip to Paris in December—Louis XIV and Napoleon I. 

Louis XIV, a.k.a. the “Sun King” because the nation revolved around him, reigned for a loooong time (1643-1715). He loved his mother and the arts and had a great personality. Allegedly, he made everyone feel comfortable when speaking with him. He managed to move the entire French government out of Paris to his favorite sleepy suburb—Versailles. People liked the guy!

One of many portraits of the Sun King in the Palace of Versailles. Don’t you just want to hang with him? I wonder if he loaned out his cool shoes.
The “Gallery of Battles” in Versailles—a modest little wing of Louis’ house.

Napoleon, as you may have heard, was good at war. Eventually, he got cocky and went too far, but still, the French took him back. It was said that having Napoleon on the battlefield to rally the troops was equivalent to having 10,000 additional men. Clearly, he had something good going on personality-wise. Even now, he looms large in French life. A French couple asked me to take their photo, with his tomb, when I was in Paris.

Napoleon’s tomb in its grand setting: Les Invalides cathedral
The dome above Napoleon’s tomb

Whatever it was, the 2023 film “Napoleon” starring Joaquin Phoenix completely missed it. Boy, was it bad! I hope the Oscar nominators agree. (Check out Dan’s predictions here.) As my husband said when we left Les Invalides, “The guy that Joaquin Phoenix played in the film did not deserve that tomb.” He was wasn’t the least bit inspiring – or likable. For a laugh, check out what the French had to say about the film here.

A portrait of Napoleon as Emperor that hangs in Versailles

Work Update 5: Told Ya

~ MaryG ~ 3 Comments

Yesterday, two of my former colleagues simultaneously contacted me (one by phone and one by text) to let me know that my former supervisor Danielle’s other direct report (a.k.a. “Kathy,” for those who were following along) has given her notice and is leaving Friday. She stayed less than 18 months in all.

I wonder if they’ll finally realize that Danielle is the problem and fire her toxic ass?

Related post: Work Update 4

Receiving line

~ MaryG ~ 1 Comment
Bloganuary writing prompt
Can you share a positive example of where you’ve felt loved?
View all responses

I remember experiencing a deep feeling of being loved by my friends and family in the receiving line outside the church after our wedding. We had just said our vows and walked out onto the front lawn of the UU church, which is also the town common–a classic New England church on a big town green. It was a sunny but windy day in late May, and my long, tulle veil was blowing around like crazy. Then everyone started coming out of the church and seemed so genuinely thrilled for us. Maybe they were just happy to get outside into the sun, but I remember a real feeling of being surrounded by love.

The church
Hugging my Aunt Mary, who came all the way from New Mexico for the wedding
The blowing veil