May | 2017 | dual personalities

May 5, 2017

“Twas in the merry month of May when green buds all were swelling”*

by chuckofish

I am so sick of rain! But I am cautiously optimistic about the weekend.

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Dare we hope for a little sun?

I hope so, because it will be a relatively busy weekend. Tonight we have the annual Print Fair and preview party at the St. Louis Mercantile Library, which is right up my alley, as you can imagine. What could be better than strolling around, wine in hand, checking out “thirty local and national fine print and rare book dealers presenting a broad array of exceptional materials?” Last year I even won something at the silent auction.

Then there’s a book fair at our local library and a few estate sales to go to. And I’ve got to get my house ready for daughters #1 and 2 who arrive next week for another quick visit–the wee babes are getting baptized next weekend! Nate, the fiancé, is coming too, so we’ll have a full house.

May is whizzing by, isn’t it?

Have a good weekend and let’s hope we can sing Here Comes the Sun. I tried to find a Youtube video of this song, but I guess there is an issue with Beatles songs. I have always liked this song, ever since I went to a concert my sophomore year at Smith College featuring a lot of acapella groups from other Ivy League schools. The Williams College Ephlats sang Here Comes the Sun. The soloist was a very cute guy with long blond hair. When I arrived as an exchange student at Williams the following year, this same guy literally climbed in my first floor dorm window on my first day. I took that for a good omen.

Enjoy your weekend!

*Barbara Allen, traditional Scottish ballad

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May 4, 2017

Waitin’ ’round the bend

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of the lovely and talented Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993). I mean, who doesn’t love Audrey Hepburn? And if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?

Of course, she starred in one of my top-five favorite movies of all time–Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)–but I like her in anything. Indeed, she is like John Wayne in that she makes even an average movie worth watching.

She only made 20 American movies and they weren’t all Breakfast at Tiffany’s. But some of them are pretty darn good:

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The Unforgiven (1960)

Charade (1963)

Paris When It Sizzles (1964)

How to Steal a Million (1966)

I prefer her movies from the 1960s. The movies she made in the 1950s–when she was in her 20s–frequently match her with co-stars who are old enough to be her father. Think Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire–kind of creepy, don’t you think? What were they thinking?

Anyway, it’s a no-brainer what to watch tonight while toasting the wonderful Audrey.

Any one of her films will do (even those ones from the 1950s!) What’s your favorite Audrey Hepburn movie?

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May 3, 2017

“The water prevailed upon the earth”*

by chuckofish

Good grief–more “historic” flooding in flyover country.

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Our hands-on governor fills sandbags.

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The scene in downtown Eureka

People were just beginning to recover from the December 2015 flooding and now we have another “100-year” flood. In fact, we’ve had three 100-year flood events in the last five years! Crests now are expected to reach or surpass levels from the December 2015 flooding.

The Gasconade River

Eureka High School

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The Meramec River in Valley Park

And now this:

Screen Shot 2017-05-02 at 1.33.47 PM.png Zut alors! I can’t like this.

God of compassion,
you hear the cries of all who are in trouble or distress;
accept our prayers for those whose lives are affected by storms and flooding:
strengthen them in their hour of need,
grant them perseverance and courage to face the future
and be to them a firm foundation on which to build their lives;
this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

*Genesis 7:24

The photos are from STLtoday.com.

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May 2, 2017

“Socks up, boss!”

by chuckofish

Last night I watched Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) on TCM–a comedy about postwar Japan. Marlon Brando plays Sakini in a bit of casting which these days would be considered extremely offensive.

Marlon Brando, Paul Ford and Glenn Ford

I”m sure Brando just thought he was “acting” and meant no offence.

The original play and movie satirize the U.S. occupation and Americanization of the island of Okinawa following the end of WWII in 1945. It is all pretty silly.

Daughter #1 appeared in her high school production of the play when she was in the 9th grade.

There she is, the second from the right.

Her little sister and two admiring 4th grade friends congratulate her after the play.

Heavens to Betsy! How innocent/oblivious we were in 2000.

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May 1, 2017

We die to sin and live to God*

by chuckofish

temple-gate Betha Lum 1912.jpg

Oh brother. It rained all weekend. All weekend. Lots of flooding in flyover-land and many cancelations. The March of Dimes Walk for Babies, which I had planned to walk in on daughter #3’s team, was canceled.

There were a ton of good estate sales, but going estate sale-ing in the rain is not a lot of fun. I went to a few, but headed home after a while empty-handed.

It was definitely a weekend for puttering and I did quite a lot of that. I also read a lot of The Shadow of the Wind, which I finished. I can’t really recommend it. I guess I don’t like novels that have that consciously storybook/fairy tale quality where the author seems to be trying way too hard to convey a feeling. Oy. This book takes place in Barcelona before, during and after the Spanish Civil War, but you learn nothing about the history, only that a lot of bad things happened. The characters are too wrapped up in their own love story–which is childish–to care that anything is going on around them.

Meanwhile, daughters #1 and 2 were together in D.C. where #2’s friends from home had congregated to celebrate her bachelorette weekend. This is something new that modern bachelorettes do.

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Daughter #1 sent me the goodie bag that she, as Maid of Honor, gave to the other girls. She organized a party on the rooftop patio of one of her old friends–very cool–and they went to a winery. Luckily it didn’t rain on their parade.

I went to church and listening to the constant rain on our big roof

just made me want to go home and crawl back into bed. Well, I had to get ready for the boy and his wee brood who came over for dinner that evening.

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Thankfully, these wee babes can cheer up even the dreariest of weekends! Enjoy your Monday!

*From the Pascha nostrum, Episcopal Church; the painting at the top is by Betha Lum, 1912.

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Month: May, 2017

by chuckofish

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