2011: Saddle Up Hodgepodge

Author Lee Child's goal: To write another book. The way I try to do that is to make it as if it is the first and last book I'd ever write. Since this is the only evidence I'll leave behind, it had better be good. (WSJ 12/31/10)

A poem by Joanne Faries:

Post Christmas

stockings, bows, paper
tucked away
red splashes erased

New Year

Quicken spreadsheet opened
red bottom line smear


Saw lots of movies over the holiday, so I shall post another movie review excerpt that I wrote for The Little Paper of San Saba:

Jeff Bridges has to be declared an American treasure. He won an Oscar last year for Crazy Heart. Now this year he turns his laconic speaking style, grizzled look, and command of the screen to True Grit. The Coen brothers did not remake the John Wayne movie. Instead they reinterpreted the Charles Portis book and lavished it with a great cast, superb filming, and a lot of grit indeed.

True Grit is not a western per se. It takes place out west in a hardscrabble land. It involves a chase on horseback, snow, rattlesnakes (both the real kind and evil men), and plenty of fancy shooting. There's some whiskey drinking, cooking beans over a fire, and well, okay ... this is a western. The Coen's capture the sense of American adventure, property, pride, and revenge. Jeff Bridges, behind the black eyepatch, gives a master class in acting. Effortless and smooth, Rooster Cogburn's our flawed hero. Hailee S. - her clear eyed youth and wit energizes the Mattie character and at fourteen, she's a power to be reckoned with . Matt Damon's LeBoeuf is the comic foil and yet valuable to the good guy team.

Saddle up and mosey to the movies soon. True Grit is a treat.


First week of January and I'm pleased to report no rejections yet. Ever hopeful, I shall write, edit, re-edit, and submit.