So I spent most of the weekend inside, in solidarity with daughters # 1 and 2, who really were stuck inside their east coast apartments because of all the snow.
Although I guess daughter #2 wasn’t stuck inside all weekend.
We had no snow besides the old stuff from our mid-week event.
The boy came over to show us his new hockey skates.
And we watched Furious 7 again and thoroughly enjoyed all its lovely ridiculousness.
The OM circa 1956–picture him in the same get up in a wing chair.
It turned cold over the weekend. We got a dusting of snow, but nothing to write home about. The windows were icy Sunday morning though. Brrrr.
It was a good weekend to stay in and needlepoint/read/putter. I also watched a few movies.
Let me just say, I am most definitely not a fan of Amy Schumer or Judd Apatow. But someone had left a copy of Trainwreck at our house and I had nothing to watch on Saturday night. I knew I would hate it, but I like to stay current, right?
I assumed I wouldn’t watch the whole thing, but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised.
I watched the whole thing. Yes, it is vulgar, but the title character is a trainwreck after all, and the movie is about her figuring that out. There is actually a moral to the story. Spoiler alert: She cleans up her act.
I also watched Bulldog Drummond (1929), a rather bizarre pre-code movie starring Ronald Colman and a 19-year old Joan Bennett.
Colman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor as Bulldog Drummond and he is, indeed, young, funny and very appealing–not the stiff-upper-lip epitomizer of his later films (think Random Harvest). And there is plenty of sexual innuendo in this movie, let me tell you. This 87-year old movie is worth checking out!
On Sunday night we celebrated daughter #3’s birthday (a few days late) with pizza, cake and ice cream.
Now it is Monday again and the salt mines beckon. Have a good week!
Well, here we go…and since I have no big plans for the weekend, that’s okay with me. It may be a good time to hunker down and resurrect a needlepoint project. Or clean out the “craft closet.”
I will find something to do.
Tonight I will definitely toast Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) on his birthday
I had a busy week, especially yesterday, so I am planning to take it easy this weekend. I’m going to go to the church on Saturday for the Christmas cookie sale, wrap presents and mail packages and probably buy our Christmas trees.
Sunday is Advent Lessons & Carols and I am a reader.
I am going to watch Christmas movies and probably more of Sons of Anarchy season three, which I started when the OM was away at a conference this week. (He hates the show.)
But how can you not love a show where Katey Sagal’s character (the SOA Queen Bee), while desperately trying to hot-wire and steal a car, says “Goddamit” in frustration and grabs her purse to find her reading glasses! I can so relate.
Enjoy your weekend! Three weeks from today is…Christmas!
This is one of those event-packed Fridays when I think, if I can just get through today, I’m going to take it easy this weekend! That is my plan.
In the meantime, here are some postcards from my week.
St. Louis keeps watch over Art Hill.
The Ginko trees at my flyover university are awesome.
The Christmas cactus is blooming right on schedule!
And someone brought me cookies at work! 420 calories per 3-bite serving! Oh mein Gott!
And one reminder! Turner Classic Movies: TCM has revised its schedule to showcase a 24-hour tribute to Maureen O’Hara starting today, Friday, November 20. The 12-movie marathon begins at 6 am ET.
Now feel free to
Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor everyone; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.’ (from the service for Remembrance Sunday SPCK)
How was your weekend? Mine was quite enjoyably low-key.
On Saturday evening the OM and I went to the members’ preview of the new exhibit “St. Louis Modern” at the SLAM.
Luckily, he found something right away to admire.
As readers of this blog know, my own home is filled with antiques and reproductions. My taste certainly leans toward 18th and 19th century American style. I am, however, a great appreciator of mid-century modern–i.e. the 20th century stuff of my youth. The aforementioned exhibit was full of the contents of some pretty great Bernoudy and Armstrong and Dunn homes and offices and included the design products of Charles Eames, Russel Wright, Eliel Saarinen, et al. It prompted me to look around my own house and find the odds ‘n ends of this period that I love.
I mean who doesn’t love mid-century modern pottery and china?
Church on Sunday was enjoyable–the only blip being when our female assisting priest referred in her sermon to Beethoven’s “Erotica” symphony instead of the “Eroica”. Talk about your Freudian slip! I refrained from correcting her after the service, because I hate people who do that. You know–the ones who look for typos to point out in newsletters etc. Like they’re being helpful. I always say, “I know everyone thinks I’m perfect, but really I’m not!”
I went to see The Yeoman of the Guard by Gilbert & Sullivan on Friday night.
The scene of this opera is laid within the precincts of the Tower of London, in the period of the 16th Century.
Admittedly, it was not the D’Oly Carte Opera Company, but I thought our local Winter Opera company was really quite wonderful.
My mother was a fan of Yeoman and we had the record.
I think she liked it because it is the only W&S opera with kind of a sad ending. She could always relate to the fool/jester character in anything and there is a stellar one in Yeoman.
Anyway, I dragged the OM and the boy along (daughter #3 was otherwise engaged) and they enjoyed it also. We were all proud of ourselves for getting out and participating in a cultural activity.
It reminded me of the time back in 1964 when my mother bought tickets to see the actual D’Oyly Carte Company perform The Mikado. She took my brother and me. I was in the second grade, but she thought I was old enough to enjoy/appreciate this opportunity. (She may have over-estimated me.) Anyway, my father took my little sister (who was not old enough to enjoy/appreciate light opera) to see It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Ironically this film was on TCM last week and I DVR’d it and then watched it this weekend. It features literally every American comedian (plus Terry-Thomas) alive in 1963. It is overly long and drags some, but it does have its moments. Jonathan Winters is great and the scene in the gas station with Arnold Stang and Marvin Kaplan is priceless. There is a lot of yelling in this movie.
Speaking of movies, I also watched From Hell (2001) on Halloween and, despite the presence of Johnny Depp, I thought it was dreadful. Apologies for recommending it on Friday!
Sunday, as you know, was All Saints Day and we had an interminably long service complete with a children’s sermon dissecting the hymn The Saints of God. Oh, did I mention it was also pledge Sunday? Well, it was. On top of this, the woman sitting behind me was a beat behind or a beat ahead during every prayer and every hymn to the point where I was ready to slap her and slap her hard. I hate feeling that way in church.
And now it is November and the long slide to Christmas begins. Deo gratias.
My oh my what a wonderful time in flyover land we’ve had while daughter #1 has been in town!
Here she is wearing a vintage ensemble put together from items unearthed from the back of her childhood closet.
We went to an estate sale, ate out, checked out the new IKEA store (where I bought some more stemless wine glasses), blew a fuse when simultaneously blow-drying our hair, went to church, took multiple walks, went to Ted Drewes, shopped, updated my iPhone and synched it with my laptop, bar-b-qued with the boy and daughter #3 and watched more old home movies, and generally displaced the OM who didn’t grumble too much.
Sadly, she heads back to NYC tomorrow on the 5:55 a.m. flight, because all good things, as they say, must come to an end.
Yesterday daughter #1 rode in from NYC for a little flyover R&R.
This time she will not be running in a half marathon but recovering from one she ran two weeks ago on Staten Island. ‘Taking it easy’ will be the byword for the weekend.
(Aren’t those white Keds the cutest things ever?)
I must also note that today is the birthday of my distant cousin, Dwight Yoakam!
Old Dwight (who is my age) has had quite a career. Fifteen-time Grammy nominee and three-time winner, his music career has been stellar indeed. But he must be congratulated for doing a great job of transitioning from country music heart-throb to “character actor.”
Would that we could all do it as gracefully.
Happy birthday, Dwight! We’ll be toasting you big time tonight!
The boy came over to show us his new hockey skates.
dual personalities 