movies | dual personalities

January 4, 2022

Many are the plans in the mind of man

by chuckofish

These things have served their purpose: let them be.
So with your own, and pray they be forgiven
By others, as I pray you to forgive
Both bad and good. Last season’s fruit is eaten
And the fullfed beast shall kick the empty pail.
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
T.S. Eliot, from Little Giddings

Like I said yesterday, I am not going to overdo the making of plans and goal-setting in the new year, but daughter #1 and I did get started on the time-consuming work of putting away Christmas over the weekend.

I still have a lot to do, but the two trees are down and the ornaments packed safely in their designated boxes. It always feels good to get things cleaned up in January, don’t you think?

After packing boxes and toting them to the basement, we watched Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo (1959) to ring in the new year. It is, of course, an American classic–the brave sheriff (John Wayne), standing alone against the rich and powerful bad guy with his legion of paid gunmen, is aided by his friends, a motley crew consisting of a drunk, a crippled old man, a female card shark, a tiny Hispanic innkeeper, and a reluctant youth. Although he eschews their aid, they will not be dissuaded from helping.

The movie was a huge hit world-wide. Watch this climactic scene dubbed in French! (It’s not quite the same without John Wayne’s distinctive voice and manner…”Burdette! Nathan Burdette!”)

We also watched The Court Jester (1955)–another favorite with Danny Kaye and a stellar supporting cast. Can you say, “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!”?

So I am off to a good start of vintage movie viewing in the new year. I cannot remember the last movie I saw that was made recently. If I wrack my brain, all I can come up with is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2020) or Ford v Ferrari (2020)–good grief. Last year was a total wash-out! I will stick with the classics–In fact, I am in the mood for a Paul Newman retrospective, aren’t you?

In other news, I have begun my Bible reading plan and I am working on one of my new puzzles.

I am also going to endeavor to read some actual books and not just my MacBook.

This sums up very well how I feel about everything. “Popularity makes a poor life preserver.”

Well, onward and upward. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)

5 Comments

December 23, 2021

“Let every heart prepare him room”

by chuckofish

Christmas draws nigh and if we aren’t ready now, we’ll never be. Relax. Everything will be fine.

Today would have been our Aunt Susanne’s 97th birthday. She was our mother’s older sister and the Grand Dame of the family.

She was very different from our mother…

…as you can see in this picture taken in about 1930 (with their older cousin Marjorie). But they loved each other very much. When she was dying, it was Susanne who “understood” her best. After all, they had the most history together.

Of the three sisters, I think I am the most like Susanne, who also was a timid child. She played no varsity sports and she was not an intellectual like our mother. But she liked poetry and was a devoted church lady who endeavored to cultivate the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). She also liked a glass of spirits at the end of the day. When she died, her house was in order. As her son wrote me a few years after her death in 2000:

My mother saved everything (well, almost everything), and when the time came to settle her estate and move her belongings, I thought, “Maybe it’s important to save the things she thought were important to save.” So, I packed almost every item I came across.
Our attic and my workshop are stacked full of identical boxes that are just the right size for moving–not too big, not too small. Each one is labeled with its contents.
Periodically, I open one and try to make a decision to keep, or pass on, the items inside.

He is still working on it, all these years later…So tonight I will toast these devoted sisters and also our dear Aunt Donna, the remaining Cameron girl, who is 88.

In other news, I finally watched the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, the one with Reginald Owen. Some people actually think this is the best version. I can’t imagine why. It was not good, especially when compared with the close-to-perfect 1951 Alistair Sim version. I could go into detail explaining why it is not good, but suffice it to say, do not waste your time watching it. Indeed, the Muppet version is much better.

To recap, besides the three versions of A Christmas Carol I have viewed this month, I have watched White Christmas (1951), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Bishop’s Wife (1947), The Santa Clause (1994). And I confess that I jumped the gun and watched 3 Godfathers (1946). I just couldn’t wait until Epiphany–mea culpa.

Can you blame me? I am holding off on a few Christmas favorites at the request of daughter #1 who will arrive home later today.

Speaking of movies, this was an interesting article about movies that were filmed in our flyover hometown. I found Harold Ramis’s back-pedaling about the scene he filmed in East St. Louis to be hilarious.

Merry Christmas!

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore, my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, place me with ox, ass, camel, goat, to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face, and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart, embrace him with undying faith, exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.
From The Valley of Vision

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December 9, 2021

Eat, drink and be merry–in keeping with the situation

by chuckofish

Thursday again and another weekend approaches. Two weeks until Christmas and the wee twins turn five on Saturday!

(Social distancing with Santa in 2021–good grief!)

We do not have a particularly busy holiday schedule. Gone are the days of multiple Christmas parties to attend and work festivities and school events. And that’s okay with me.

TCM showed They Were Expendable (1945) on December 7 and I watched it even though I had seen it on Memorial Day. It is such a great movie and one of the very best war movies, in part because it is not about winning and glory, but about losing and going on, about learning to be part of a team and making sacrifices for the team. (For the record, there are brave women in this movie, but they are not the ones getting their ankles blown off.)

There is a lot of talk these days about “toxic masculinity” and frequently John Wayne’s name is bandied about as an example of that, probably by morons who have never seen one of his movies. This is a real trigger for me, and this movie exemplifies exactly what is not toxic about masculinity and Robert Montgomery and John Wayne are perfect as the heroes of the film.

Author William L. White based his novel “They Were Expendable” on the experience of Squadron 3 in the Philippines, who, among other things, evacuated Gen. Douglas MacArthur, his family and staff by night from the island of Corregidor, where U.S. forces were trapped by the Japanese army, to Mindanao, the southernmost of the Philippine Islands, on March 11, 1942. John Wayne played the part of Capt. John Kelly (Rusty Ryan in the movie). Robert Montgomery played the part of Lt. John D. Bulkeley (John Brickley in the movie), who won a Medal of Honor for his service as commander of the squadron. By the way, William L. White was the son of the famous William Allen White, long-time Editor/Publisher of the Emporia (Kansas) Gazette, whom he succeeded from 1944-1973.

I also watched Damn Yankees (1958) which is available on Prime now. I had not seen it in forever (if indeed ever.) I was curious to see the Bob Fosse choreography and his muse Gwen Verdon, who did not make many movies. As musicals go, it is pretty thin, but I enjoyed “You Gotta Have Heart,” which transported me back to my senior year in high school when I had to sing it in Class Day. I was in key about half the time.

This is an interesting perspective. “For what it’s worth (and, to be clear, I’m not saying you have to do as I do), Christmas is effectively a secular festival for me. It has nothing to do with the church and isn’t demanded of Christian people in the Bible. But it is fun and I like it. What is more, I am always glad to have an opportunity to think more about Jesus.”

John Piper is so right, as usual. “I risk a generalization to warn you: people who are exercised and preoccupied with such things, as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood, are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal.”

And I have been wondering about this for a long time, haven’t you?

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
–Numbers 6: 24-26

5 Comments

November 30, 2021

Hidden lives

by chuckofish

Well, it’s the last day of November and we are recovering from last week and preparing for the slide to Christmas. Back to reality. Back to a big pile of laundry and vacuuming. But also time to start wrapping Christmas presents and watching Christmas movies! Daughter #1 and I watched Miracle on 34th Street (1947) before she went back to JC. That always puts me in a festive mood.

I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer with the wee twins one night last week when the OM and I babysat while the young folk went out to dinner. Watching with almost 5-year olds gives one a fresh perspective.

This December I will once again be reading a chapter of Luke a day, starting on December 1 with chapter one. Simple, but a meaningful way to stay grounded amid all the commercialization and secularization in our culture.

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Luke 1:1-4

This is quite interesting.

These are some good post-Thanksgiving thoughts.

“Giving thanks is also a powerful act of defiance in a culture steeped in selfishness. Gratitude forces us to face the darkness and disarm the demons of discontentment and complaint.”

Also, on Sunday our pastor quoted this line from Middlemarch, which I have probably quoted before, but it bears repeating:

“..for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

Amen, come Lord Jesus.

6 Comments

November 11, 2021

A labyrinth of loves

by chuckofish

We know it is November because the Christmas Cactus is throwing out buds like crazy! So excitiing!

In other news, I was talking to the boy one day last week and we were discussing my blogpost about my Top 10 favorite/best films. He asked me why I hadn’t included To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and I said, Oh my gosh, because I forgot it! It definitely belongs in the Top 10, maybe Top 5.

So I’ll have to revise my Top 10 and move To Have and Have Not down to 11-15. Sheesh. I am getting old. He also questioned my exclusion of The Professionals (1967) and I said it would definitely be in the top 20 list. So I guess I will start working on a Top 11-20 list. We are such nerds. But I am thankful that I have a son with whom I can discuss movies.

Since it is Veterans Day, which we should all acknowledge, I propose to watch one of my favorite war movies. I looked up on the AFI website to see if they had a top 100 war movies list, but they do not. In fact, there are only six war movies in their top 100 list! Of course, only one of them is a favorite of mine: #37 The Best Years of Their Lives (1946).

The other five are: #52 From Here to Eternity (1953); #54 All Quiet on the Western Front (1930); $79 The Deer Hunter (1978); #83 Platoon (1986); #89 Patton (1970). Not terrible movies, but not favorites of mine.

No, I would suggest watching one of these WWII movies in memory of WWII Guy: They Were Expendable (1945); 12 O’Clock High (1949); Air Force (1943); or The Great Escape (1962).

If you’re not in the mood for WWII, I suggest: Drums Along the Mohawk (1939); She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949); The Horse Soldiers (1959); The Sand Pebbles (1966); or Glory (1989).

I ain’t much about no prayin’, now. I ain’t never had no family, and… Well, I just… Y’all’s the onliest family I got. I love the 54th. Ain’t even much a matter what happens tomorrow, ’cause we men, ain’t we?

Today the Lutheran Church celebrates the feast day of Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish writer, philosopher and theologian, who died on this day in 1855. That is interesting considering Kierkegaard was extremely critical of the practice of Christianity as a state religion, particularly the Church of Denmark. But I’m okay with old Soren, so let us pray one of his prayers:

O Lord, calm the waves of this heart; and calm its tempests. Calm yourself, O my soul, so that the divine can act in you. Calm yourself, O my soul, so that God is able to repose in you, so that his peace may cover you. Yes, Father in Heaven, often have I found that the world around me cannot give me peace, O but make me feel that you are able to give me peace. Let me know the truth of your promise, that the whole world may not take away your peace. Amen.

I think this is true.

And I can’t tell you how much watching this reminds me of my mother. What do you think the Queen carries in her purse?

Finally, here is a poem “To the Son” by Jorge Luis Borges:

It was not I who begot you. It was the dead—
my father, and his father, and their forebears,
all those who through a labyrinth of loves
descend from Adam and the desert wastes
of Cain and Abel, in a dawn so ancient
it has become mythology by now,
to arrive, blood and marrow, at this day
in the future, in which I now beget you.
I feed their multitudes. They are who we are,
and you among us, you and the the sons to come
that you will beget. The latest in the line
and in red Adam’s line. I too am those others.
Eternity is present in the things
of time and its impatient happenings
–translated by Alistair Reid

Enjoy the day! Read a poem.

3 Comments

November 4, 2021

And like a thunderbolt he falls

by chuckofish

Well, here we are in November and the end of the year approaches. Yikes. Thanksgiving is in three weeks! Advent starts on November 28!

However, Advent is not a Presbyterian tradition, and our senior pastor reminded us last Sunday that the Semper Reformanda (always Reforming) does not mean that we’re always adding to the Reformation, or modifying it to fit the world’s trends. No, it means the exact opposite, a return to Reformed confessional standards. So I don’t think Advent will be a thing at our new church.

I am okay with that. Advent has gone commercial anyway–anything to make a buck.

I agree with Anne as usual.

Happy November movie viewing on TCM–check out Laura’s detailed rundown of what’s showing. Sydney Greenstreet is the Star of the Month. I watched The Maltese Falcon (1941) last night for the first time in a very long time, and Sydney was truly one-of-a-kind. They knew about character actors back in the day.

I was happy to see the Atlanta Braves win the World’s Series, although I have pretty much opted out of MLB. But it did my heart good to hear shortstop Dansby Swanson give the glory to God: “God’s always got a plan and having faith in that plan will never fail you.” Amen.

Are we living in the last days? (You know you’ve asked yourself that question.) Here’s the answer:

But don’t allow yourself to get down in the dumps. Here is my favorite three-year old poetry aficionado reciting The Eagle: A Fragment by Aldred, Lord Tennyson. He makes me smile every time!

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

Wish me luck on Saturday when I am giving a talk on the Santa Fe Trail to a group of DAR ladies here in town. You can bet I will work in a way to mention ol’ John Simpson Hough. It should be fun, right?

4 Comments

November 1, 2021

“Talk about your childhood wishes/You can even eat the dishes”*

by chuckofish

I have been thinking about Halloween and how back in the day, the getting of candy was really the big deal. No one had candy at home. Candy was something we got on special occasions and on Saturday mornings when we went to Spicer’s and spent a nickel on penny candy. Five pieces, which we picked out carefully, in a little brown bag. So a holiday like Halloween was about candy and the hoarding of it thereafter. Our mother made some pretty great costumes early on, but later, when we got older, costumes were secondary and frequently were thrown together at the last minute. It was the free candy that we wanted. Those mini candy bars were a seasonal treat and not available at other times of the year like they are now.

I remember when I was in kindergarten or first grade and I was going over to my best friend Trudy Glick’s house to Trick-or-Treat. She lived in a mansion on a street with other very large houses spaced far apart from each other. My older brother felt sorry for me because obviously we wouldn’t be going to very many houses. Anticipating quite a haul in our own neighborhood, he uncharacteristically and magnanimously actually said he would share his candy with me. Imagine our surprise when the denizens of Dromara Lane gave out full sized candy bars and I came home with a heaping bag of goodies. No apples or cookies or raisins. Lesson learned. (I have no memory of sharing with him, but maybe I did.)

Later, in college, Halloween was an excuse to wear makeup and to try to look sultry…

Now we just turn off the lights and ignore anyone who comes to the door.

Over the weekend we watched our share of “scary” movies: Signs (2002), Night Creatures (1962)–recommended by Paul Zahl–and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1964). Both Night Creatures and The Scarecrow are based on a book by Russell Thorndike, Dr. Syn. I have to admit, I prefer the Disney version. Those historical movies from the early sixties, filmed in England and sometimes starring Patrick McGoohan, were very good. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh really holds up. And who doesn’t love a story about an Anglican vicar who has a side hustle as a smuggler so he can steal from the government to help the poor…and, of course, the title song?

We all went to church on Sunday. As a special Reformation Day treat, the men’s ensemble (a sextet) sang “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” at the beginning of the service. At the conclusion the wee laddie turned to me and whispered, “That song was awesome!” and he applauded. Luckily, he was not the only one so moved. We had brunch together at home afterwards, which I hope will be our new Sunday routine.

I served Episcopal Souffle, but I may have to change the name now. Calvinist souffle?

We did not get to see the wee twins in their Halloween costumes, but we saw a lot of pictures.

Lottie was a mermaid (striped shirt optional) and the bud was Kion from the Lion King.

Daughter #3 whipped up the costumes as requested. Very wunderbar.

Meanwhile baby Katie sat out Halloween…

…and looked adorable doing so.

Today is All Saints’ Day, at least in the Anglican world. But it is still a good reminder to pause and think about all those saints who have influenced our lives.

On All Saints’ Day, it is not just the saints of the church that we should remember in our prayers, but all the foolish ones and wise ones, the shy ones and overbearing ones, the broken ones and whole ones, the despots and tosspots and crackpots of our lives who, one way or another, have been our particular fathers and mothers and saints, and whom we loved without knowing we loved them and by whom we were helped to whatever little we may have, or ever hope to have, of some kind of seedy sainthood of our own.
Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey

Have a great week!

*Willy Wonka

3 Comments

October 26, 2021

“If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will”*

by chuckofish

We had some crazy midwestern weather the other night, tornadoes et al, but we are okay and no one died. We are once again reminded that with all our scientific advancements, they still can’t control the weather, try as they might. They’re not even that good at predicting it.

While daughter #1 was home this past weekend, we watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), which, as you know, is one of my top-five American movies of all time. I have recently re-read the Truman Capote novella…

…and it was good to see the movie and how great Audrey Hepburn was (as opposed to Marilyn Monroe, whom TC imagined in the part.) We enjoyed it and it lifted our spirits, as all favorite movies do.

Anyway, it got me thinking–in the middle of the night when all great thinking is done–about my top-five movies of all time and how they haven’t changed over the years.

They are (in order by year of production): The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz; Stagecoach (1939) directed by John Ford; The Wizard of Oz (1939) directed by Victor Fleming; Shane (1953) directed by George Stevens; and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) directed by Blake Edwards.

These movies are in my opinion perfect and I would not change a thing about them. I guess it’s sad that there is no movie on my list after 1961!

It got me thinking about what movies would round out my top 10 and I came up with these: To Have and Have Not (1943) directed by Howard Hawks; The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) directed by William Wyler; My Darling Clementine (1948) directed by John Ford; The Searchers (1956) directed by John Ford; Ben Hur directed by William Wyler (1959).

Those are 10 great movies!

Do you have a top-ten list? You might try making one. And then buy the DVDs. They’ll be canceling them soon. I mean did you ever see the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode (2020) where they do the take-off of Toy Story? At the end Ben Mankiewicz starts to introduce what’s coming up next on TCM–some movie with Debbie Reynolds saying something ethnically offensive about the Irish–and then he says, “And next on TCM…Nothing.” Blank screen. I’m not the only one that worries about this.

Speaking of movies, here’s an article by Paul Zahl about Hammer horror films, just in time for Halloween. He even comments on private baptisms–“let’s hear it again for private baptisms on Saturday afternoons — public baptisms on Sunday morning are starting to get old.” Amen, brother.

And this is a great article about the importance of actually going to church on Sunday morning and the inanity of “self-care Sunday.”

Where is that big eye freaked out emoji? Decorate “some” pumpkins? How many? With what? But seriously, if that freaks you out as it does me, keep scrolling to discover that “loving yourself first” is one of the key ingredients of self-care Sunday, as well as taking a hot bath and “loving yourself instead of loving the idea of other people loving you.”

I saw this quote from Jeremiah 10:23 in a daily devotional I follow: “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.” True, true, true.

Curious, I looked up the rest of the prayer, which in typical Episcopalian fashion, the author of the devotional had left out. Oh golly, always look for the context:

Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
    it is not for them to direct their steps.
²⁴Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in your anger,
    or you will reduce me to nothing.
²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations
    that do not acknowledge you,
    on the peoples who do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob;
    they have devoured him completely
    and destroyed his homeland.

Have a good day!

*The Grateful Dead

4 Comments

October 21, 2021

Living in the land of Nod

by chuckofish

Our internet was out for about 36 hours and, boy, did that throw a monkey wrench into my day! Thankfully, I had already written my post for Tuesday, so daughter #1 was able to schedule it for me. But without the internet I was limited in my activities as you can imagine.

I did buckle down and finish reading The Lincoln Highway, which I really enjoyed. (I thought the ending was fine.) For me, the narrative bogged down in the middle and some of the characters annoyed me a little, but on the whole it is a very good read and a welcome look back at life before television, the internet, iPhones, etc took over everyone’s life. The character of Billy, eight years old and an avid reader, is definitely not someone you would meet today–although I’m sure there are exceptions. In fact, it would be a good book for a lot of eight year olds to read (or to have read to them by a parent). They might learn something about “Heroes, Adventurers, and other Intrepid Travelers” who are not included in the Marvel Comic universe. You know, Achilles, Daniel Boone, Julius Caesar, Edmund Dantes, Thomas Edison…

This book will win no prizes, because its lessons are unpopular and old-fashioned, some are even canceled, but it is worth reading and probably re-reading.

I am of the opinion, Professor, that everything of value in this life must be earned. That it should be earned. Because those who are given anything of value without having to earn it are bound to squander it. I believe that one should earn respect. One should earn trust. One should earn the love of a woman, and the right to call oneself a man. And one should also earn the right to hope. At one time I had a wellspring of hope–a wellspring that I had not earned. And not knowing what it was worth, on the day I left my wife and child, I squandered it. So over the last eight and a half years, I have learned to live without hope, just as surely as Cain lived without it once he entered the land of Nod…That is, said Ulysses, until I met this boy.

There is an abundance of references–classical, literary, biblical–throughout the book. If you are like me, and you enjoy that, this book is for you. If you do not know your elbow from a hot rock, never mind.

Here’s an interview with Amor Towles. The first few paragraphs are off-putting–all the talk of bestsellers and falling in love–but you can just read the parts where AT is talking and ignore the insipid interviewer.

In other news, this is a good article about Ben Johnson. You will recall that he is the only Academy Award winner to have also been a Rodeo National Champion. Our mother was always a fan of Ben. I remember clearly her pointing him out to me the first time I saw Shane (1953). He played a cowboy named Chris who comes through in the end and does the right thing.

Reading this article inspired us to watch Junior Bonner (1972) which stars Steve McQueen along with Ben Johnson and Robert Preston.

I have always liked this movie because Steve seems very “real” in it. He has very few lines, but his character comes across in the same way Ben Johnson always does–as the genuine article.

We were able to watch this, because we could still use our DVD player even though our internet was down. Thanks be to God! I also watched several episodes of Miami Vice from season one (1984). This show is not so great as, say, NYPD Blue, but I still really enjoyed watching it. Such a nostalgic trip back to the 1980s! Those clothes and that hair! And Bruce Willis in a breakthrough role… (those pants!)

…Gina and Trudy, when not dressed as undercover prostitutes, wearing dirndl skirts and polo shirts…I looked just like Gina in 1984!

Yes, back when everyone had a waist. And, of course, there’s Don Johnson, the pride of Flat Creek, Missouri…

Give me an amen.

6 Comments

October 4, 2021

“There’s the respect that makes calamity of so long life”*

by chuckofish

Can you believe it’s October already! Zut alors–We are on the downward slide to Christmas. I am a little discombobulated by the alacrity with which the year is speeding by. And my weekend, which I thought would be a quiet one, turned out to be busier than I anticipated and it flew by.

Not that I did anything particularly noteworthy…The OM is trying to put the complicated audio/visual system back together in our new built-in “entertainment unit” and that has been very stressful. The boy came over for awhile and helped. We are 90% there.

We also hauled a bunch of electronics (old computers/printers/monitors etc) to an electronic recycling event and felt that we had really accomplished something. I also moved some books around to make room for other books…the usual stuff.

The wee twins and their parents came over for dinner Sunday night. We had not seen them in three weeks!

They ran around merrily outside for awhile after dinner. They are getting to be such big kids. (Well, not really.)

After they went home we celebrated having our DVD player working again by watching My Darling Clementine (1946)–a movie that is literally perfect (except for Linda Darnell’s hairdo.) I had been meaning to watch it ever since watching the heinous Tombstone (1993). It did not disappoint and I highly recommend it. The minor characters are all wonderful John Ford regulars. The wildcard is Victor Mature and, boy howdy, he pays off.