Let's Be Friends

 Let's take a beat and think about our NATO allies. Let's think about the purpose, the history, and the power we have to do good.

Beautiful Denmark. Lovely Copenhagen. Long time friends. From what I understand, they let Greenland be Greenland. Let's let them. 

I'm being far too simplistic and idealistic, but why are we messing up a perfectly good situation?

Why sow chaos and discord?  Again - I have no real knowledge or  authority, but I question if there's really a plan?   Like - okay, we have Venezuela....now what?   

That's all.  We'll be back to regularly scheduled book reviews, etc.   I just had to blather what's been stewing in my brain.  

Mange tak   (thank you)

MLK Day Salute

Now is the time to revisit Martin Luther King, Jr - his words, his thoughts, his ideals. 

What would he think of America today? There was progress.  Note the word "was".  I fear the current regime's actions are moving us backwards.  I am a senior white woman, living a fortunate life. However, I do care about all people, and perhaps I'm too idealistic and "woke", but I think it helps everyone if we help those less fortunate, if we "make real the promises of democracy."

How do we work above all the noise out there?  How can we read past what the algorithms dictate? It is hard work to try to find many sources to sort out a story.  And somehow, we still have to have faith in our vote. That's one way to not be silent. 

Armed masked militias - seems cruel to me. Shooting protesters - no! Rounding up working people - no. To me, the amount of time and effort and money in being cruel should be spent on processing folks so  they can keep their jobs - be the roofers, the landscapers, the farm help - so much work that, say, American teens, don't want to do.  It's all complex and above my pay grade, but at this juncture it seems like the border crossings are contained. Now we're just being mean. 

I liked this New Yorker cartoon.  Struck a nerve. 

MLK Day should offer us some reflection. Where are we? What do we lack? How can we be better? How can we bolster democracy?   It will be 250 years in July.  Are the Founding Fathers rolling in their graves? 

P.S. It is very petty to remove MLK Day from our  National Park "free  pass" day.  Seriously?  

It is ridiculous to be removing information from the Smithsonian museums that reference black history. 

WTF
 

Finally Friday - It Was the Way She Said It

 It Was the Way She Said It by Terry McMillan is an excellent compilation of short fiction and non-fiction essays. 

Her book Waiting to Exhale put her on the national stage in the early 1990s. But the works in this volume are (cover blurb) provocative, boundary-pushing short stories, capturing the struggles and triumphs of  Black life in America with vitality and honesty. McMillan's inimitable voice bravely explores the dark corners of human relationships with compassion, humor, and nuance.

I've always enjoyed her books. Her short stories and essays are really strong. Her characters, her humor, and her candor are eye-opening. 

From her 2016 Life Lessons Essay: When I watch the news these days, the vitriolic tone of some of the  rhetoric feels like we're heading back to the sixties and seventies. I'm not going.

I just want us to respect each other for the content of our character and not  be disrespected because of the color of our skin. We are Americans. 

I highly recommend diving deeper into Terry McMillan's words. 

Whatever Wednesday - An Inside Job by Daniel Silva

 Daniel Silva's An Inside Job continues the brilliant legacy of Gabriel Allon. He's a brilliant art restorer. He's also a lethal warrior.  He has a commission to restore a lost masterpiece of Leonardo Da Vinci. 

But a dead girl is found in the Venetian Lagoon. 

She's a mysterious key to a lost painting, ruthless mobsters, Vatican theft. 

cover blurb - The action moves at breakneck speed from the galleries and auction houses of London to an enclave of unimaginable wealth on the French Riviera - and finally, to a shocking climax in St. Peter's Square where the life of a pope hangs in the balance.   Whew!!! 

Silva knows how to write and his hero, Gabriel Allon, is intriguing.  This is a page turner.

Very entertaining.  Very current. Very on point.   and I say again - Whoa!  and  Whew!

Monday Moments - Is This Thing On?

 So, I was kinda done with the world on Friday and needed to escape.  How about a marriage falling apart movie?  Yeah, that's the way to go. Popcorn and a soda - escape for two hours watching some misery.  Ha!

Is This Thing On? is directed by Bradley Cooper and he does a good job.  Will Arnett (Alex) is superb and Laura Dern (Tess) is always glorious  to watch. They've been married for over twenty years and are pretty much fighting all the time.  So they agree to split and divorce. The movie basically follows them struggling to make the divorce amicable for their two sons. 

Incredibly well acted and very realistic. Alex is in finance by day and then finds standup comedy by night. It's sheer happenstance that he goes into a comedy club. To not pay the entrance fee, he had to sign a sheet and do some comedy bit.  Turns out it's a bit therapeutic and he gets some laughs. He finds himself "alive" and challenged. It's a new world with some new friends.

What happens when Tess coincidentally sees him perform and she's the butt of his jokes?  Sorta a turn on? Are they kidding themselves? 

The  movie  feels very New York City real... like not really normal folks, but movie folks real.  I enjoyed it. The acting is really good and the difficulty of navigating  marriage is spot  on.  It's work.

Finally Friday - All the Broken Places by John Boyne

 All the Broken Places by John Boyne is a powerful book. It moves back and forth in time between Nazi Germany and 2022 London.  Gretel Fernsby is ninety-one years old. Opinionated,  but lives a quiet life until emotions are stirred up by her downstairs neighbors. 

Her memories are churned up as she thinks  about her  escape from Germany at age 12, knowing her father was killed  for being  a Reich commandant of an extermination camp. She managed to start a new life and create a new identity after time in Poland, Australia, and  now  London  - oh so many years later. 

But she hears and witnesses abuse by the husband living below her to his wife and young son. 

cover blurb - Back then (in Germany), she denied her own complicity; now, she must interrogate her guilt, grief, and remorse and risk revealing the secrets she has  spent a lifetime protecting. 

Whoa!  As each chapter builds and  connects, back and forth in time, the tension rises. Gretel is a complicated woman, wise and strong. What will she do as she confronts the bully husband? What secrets could spill out?  Lots of twists and turns and then a dramatic wow.  Well done!

Whatever Wednesday - Song Sung Blue

 Christmas afternoon I caught up with my pickleball gals and we enjoyed the film, Song Sung Blue. 

Based on a true story, Mike (Hugh Jackman) is a barely eking by singer. At a gig, he meets Claire (Kate Hudson) and they just  mesh. She's a single mom and also trying to get by in life. They connect with song and pull together as a Neil Diamond cover band..."an experience".

Slowly, they gain a following. They sound great and hey, you can't  go wrong with Sweet Caroline...so good, so good. 

Mike and  Claire marry. The kids get along. They get better gigs and even open for Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder is a fan.  But this is a real life story and unfortunately, there's a huge set-back. (I'm not going to say what, but it's a shocker).  The movie takes quite the  dramatic turn. They are living some song sung blues. 

I'll stop there. Just have a tissue handy. Hugh Jackman is  great as Mike Sardina.  Kate Hudson just glows as Claire. They have chemistry and  their voices are awesome together.  Neil Diamond's songs are fabulous.  The story might sound like a soap opera, but it's movie type true. Thumbs up per me and my friends.