Finally Friday

This is a pull it out of my butt post at 9:20 pm Thursday night.  I have a pile of book reviews to do. Just been too lazy to write them up for you.  Some good reading. 

I've also changed up my YMCA exercise routine, and it's wearing me out.  Whew!   Water aerobics on Monday/ Thursday.  Yoga on Tuesday.  Pilates on Wednesday. And Terry's Silver Sneakers Weights Class Friday.  (Terry is a beast).  Finally Gentle Yoga to finish out the week on Saturday.  Are  you tired just reading that?  

Plus, frankly the state of America is exhausting right now.  Just reading the daily newspaper makes me sad (often). 

Be the chief, but never the lord.   Lao-Tzu  6th century BC

One must steer, not  talk - Seneca the Younger   5 B.C   (I'll add - not text at midnight and beyond. Holy crap)

Random - Netflix shows I've enjoyed.   RAFA - a documentary about Rafa Nadal - the great Spanish tennis player.  It's an eye opener. I had no idea how much pain he endured as he won so many matches. What a competitor.  He's now retired.  Just turned 40. Has a very cute young son and lovely wife.

Four Seasons - stars Tina Fey and more.  She's awesome and this is just a funny little series - thirty minute episodes. Good for my attention  span

Pop  Culture Jeopardy with Colin Jost as the host.  Totally mindless.  The competitors are excellent.  Amazing  how much crap people know (and I've surprised myself- ha)

 I love this picture.  It sorta equates to my brain  currently.  Up and down the staircase

I hope you folks are well and have a good weekend.  We, in the DFW area, are having wacky weather.  Sultry build-up.  3 inches of rain in an hour.  Then, sunny and bright.  Let's go sweep  that mulch back into  the new landscaping again.   Rinse and repeat. 

Our weatherman keeps promising that the "gates of hell" heat will hit soon.   Oh boy!

Happy June!  Enjoy your weekend. 

Finally Friday - Costa Rica and Coffee

 Costa Rica is famous for its coffee.  Our guide gave a great tour

This coffee plantation was gorgeous

The old authentic cart and oxen - a symbol of the country's history

We learned about the process

Ray and I are not coffee drinkers.  Folks on our tour were buying a lot to ship home - not quite this size bag!

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!

Finally Friday - By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is a reliable writer.  Here in By Any Other  Name she introduces us to  two women, centuries apart.  One is the real author of Shakespeare's plays. The other hides behind her name to get published. 

Melina  Green has written a play about an Elizabethan ancestor, Emilia Bassano. The theater world  is tough for  women. But  her best friend submits the  play to a festival under a male pseudonym. 

Meanwhile, Picoult also  explores Emilia's  life in  1581. She becomes a mistress to a wealthy man and  sees the workings of  the art/ theater world.   Her plan - pay an actor  named  William  Shakespeare to front  her work. 

cover blurb. 

Picoult weaves the two  tales and interlaces the issues of ambition, creativity, and prejudices for women.   Should a writer  do whatever it takes  to see her story live on...no matter the cost? 

I enjoyed this book a lot and the rich characters along with current day and historical backdrop. 
 

Finally Friday - Look Up in Charleston

As you stroll Charleston, always stop and look up.  The  homes are often built tall and narrow - all the better to open windows and catch a sea breeze.  There are a lot of balconies and gorgeous finishing to  the roofs. 

Oh, it's a money town.  One can imagine the parties, the carriages pulling up to home, and folks decked in their finery stepping out to dance the night away.  

 We have to acknowledge the gardeners of Charleston. I wouldn't want  to be responsible for the greenery upkeep.

Home tour - look up. There's always a chandelier

The Joseph Maginault home "in town".  You had to have property/ plantation, and then your city home for entertaining during the high season. 

Charleston keeps its history intact and  up to date. Their historical society respects and maintains gorgeous  properties. 

After your tours, stop into one of the many restaurants that abound. Enjoy some very fresh seafood!

Finally Friday - Stroll the Grounds

 Prior  to the house tour, we strolled  the grounds.  I could  picture  men and women in their finery, enjoying the scenery. 

The money crop here was rice.  Dangerous  work for  the enslaved peoples who  worked the  land. 

Meanwhile, flowers

Tall  oaks

and the danger of alligators.   We took the nature tour tram, and this fellow was happy to pose. 

I did not take any pictures in  the  house, but it was quite spacious. It was on its third or fourth iteration due to fires. A lightning storm burned  the first homestead.  Civil War battle remnants and cannon  fire caused another house  fire. Each time it was rebuilt and  expanded due to growing families and wealth. The Draytons, of course, had a home in Charleston for the high season.  But it was nice to move the  party to  the  "country" too.  

Finally Friday - Vacation Posts Begin

Settle in folks for some Folly Beach, SC frolic and fun.   Ray and I flew into Charleston and my brother picked us up. My sister drove in.   Let the  games  begin. 
 

Walked to local pier for a lovely sunset

Fresh air smiles

More sunsets

And some churning waves on the beach.  It was a bit cold. I went up  to  my thighs.  Ray managed ankle deep.  But it was fun  watching surfers, seagulls, and sandpipers.   

More  to come.   Right  now just wriggle your toes in the sand. 

Have a good weekend. 

Finally Friday - Fiction or Life as we Know It?

 A lot of folks need to  start reading and thinking.  These works are "fiction" ???

finally Friday - Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle is an endearing tale of being single, finding love, passion, truth, and a key question - what is true romantic love? 

cover blurb - Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it - the exact amount of time they will be together.  Three days with Martin in Paris, five weeks with Noah in San Francisco, and three months with Hugo. 

Now Hugo is her ex but a long time best friend.  Then along comes Jake and the paper  has no time frame.  So, what is really going  to happen?  Can she really commit?   And can she tell Jake the truth - some difficult information about her, her past, and her future?

I can't say more. This book has some twists and turns and surprises. Daphne is a very filled out rich character, and I rooted for her to make the right decisions. The author definitely pulls you in.  Fun read. 
 

Finally Friday - Color Popping

 Happy Friday!   I can only hope  that there is some wisteria just around the corner  from you.  On my walk, I  round the bend and this beauty stuns.  Bees buzz.   I inhale the  fragrance and appreciate the delicate blooms.  

Aaah - spring.   Bask in some  sunshine and enjoy your weekend. 

Finally Friday - Chuckle Along with Chelsea

 I've always  liked comedian, Chelsea Handler. She's  sharp, funny, and irreverent.  Through the years, I've watched her comedy specials, liked her show  Chelsea Lately, and I've read her books.  Her latest, I'll Have What She's Having, is a mixture of comedy, self reflection, adventures, and truths. 

back blurb:   I wanted to fast forward through all of my youth and misery, and become the glamorous, successful, adult version of myself.

                    Why to I have to wait so  long to  get to  be this woman? I'd wonder.  Childhood has been such a  waste of  my time. 

At ten years old, Chelsea opened a lemonade stand, spiked the drinks with vodka, and sold a  lot to  adults.  She took her money and upgraded herself to first class on a family  vacation.  Nothing was going to hold  her back. 

 At nineteen she moved to Los Angeles.  She had the desire to work harder than others. Confident - she talks about  enjoying  her me  time, meditating, drugs, embracing  family, friends, and sisterhood. 

This  book is funny as hell, and made me  think too.  Chelsea Handler is confident in her convictions. I like a comedian  who will call out the  crap and absurdity  of life with humor and grace. 

Finally Friday - The Master Butchers Singing Club

 Louise Erdrich is a sublime writer. This older work (2003), The Master Butchers Singing Club, is another fine example. 

cover blurb - What happens  when a trained killer discovers, in the aftermath of war (WWI) that his true vocation is love? Fidelis Waldvogel returns home to his quiet German village and marries the pregnant widow of his best friend who was killed in action. 

As a master butcher he heads to North America with his knives and sausage skills. He sets up a successful business in North  Dakota. Eva and  four sons thrive and we learn about the community, the lives, and deaths. A stranger, Delphine, proves to be a formidable friend and lover in this small town. Erdrich brings everyday encounters to life and weaves quite a tale. 

Finally Friday - Camino Ghosts by John Grisham

John Grisham is a reliable author with an extensive list of published  books. Camino Ghosts is on the new shelf at the library and I snapped it up.  It was a quick  patio  read and entertaining enough.  It's a  sequel to Camino Island. 

Mercer Mann is  a popular  writer from Camino  Island, Florida. She's  now newly married, a published author, and in search  of  a new novel idea.  The  local bookstore  owner, Bruce, introduces  her to Lovely Jackson. She's  the last known descendant of Dark Isle, a small island settled  by freed slaves three hundred years ago. She left Dark Isle at age fifteen, but claims ownership. 

However, Tidal Breeze, a huge corporate developer has plans to build a resort and casino there.  Mercer investigates Lovely's  family story and asks to write the full  non-fiction story.  A non-profit lawyer gets involved to  fight  for  Lovely's rights to her island - it's curse,  her ancestors are buried there, and no white folks have ever landed on that land and lived to tale the tale.    

cover  blurb - The deep  secrets of the past are about to collide with the enormous ambitions of the present, and the  fate of Dark  Isle - and Camino Island, too - hangs in the  balance. 

 I found the  story fairly predictable. Usually, Grisham surprises me with some fresh  twists. Didn't happen with this book.  I could skim and  I was amused, but not afraid of these ghosts. 

Finally Friday - Book Club Discussion on The Beautiful Ones

 Tonight if you hear the echo of laughter, it's my PA  ladies and book club time on  a zoom meeting.  

The Beautiful  Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia was chosen by Joan.  She  asked her adult ESL class what they  were reading and now we explore a "fantasy of  manners set in a world inspired by the belle epoque". 

cover blurb - In a world of etiquette and polite  masks, no one is who they seem to be. 

Antonina (Nina) is in Loisail for the Grand Season. Valerie Beaulieu is her reluctant mentor. Alas, Nina's telekinetic powers prove to be fodder for  the gossip  season.  Yet, Hector Auvray (telekinetic performer himself) is intrigued by Nina. Time spent together proves difficult for Nina. She's falling  in love, but the elder Hector has a  past history (oops). 

This is a  fancy fantasy romance set against  a glittering  backdrop. The writing and characters are amusing, and there is some unpredictability in the story line.  Unlike  many of our book club  choices, this was a lighter read and entertaining. 

Cheers to your weekend ahead - hope  filled with laughter and old  friends. 

Finally Friday - Tulip Time

Every year, every spring, I MUST post tulips pictures and more from the Dallas Arboretum.

so glorious.  My friend, Linda  T., and I strolled the grounds, viewed the beauty, enjoyed lunch in the cafe, and embraced nature.  It's a tad early, but still wonderful. 

Pretty planters

Don't look too closely.  We had some CRAZY winds roll through the area, and I could tell that some of the garden areas had been blasted. 

But those striped tulips popped!!

Eye candy,  my friends.  Now, enjoy your weekend.  You,  too, shall have some spring flowers soon

Cheers
 

Finally Friday - Donuts ...

 Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love by Jared Reck is a delightfully sweet book. Such a surprise treat.  I bought this for two dollars at our local library book sale.  It was worth the  price and more. 

Oscar, our  narrator, is a hoot and a wise young man. His voice is rich, his story is one of pluck and verve.  I loved that  it took place in Gettysburg PA - home turf for me.  I  enjoyed the tone of the book and the location settings. 

Oscar and his Swedish grandfather run a food truck together.  Lou, a high school "frenemy" hijacks Oscar's life, so to  speak. Together they use wasted cafeteria apples to spread delicious apple  crisp, apple cider, apple muffins and  more into the town.   (cover blurb)

Oscar never expected this relationship.  His future is uncertain.  His strong grandfather is a fan  of Lou, and then the unthinkable happens. 

I can't say more.   Read this really sweet book and root for the characters.  It's an immigrant tale, a love story, and search for one's future.   And....yum...donuts!  The book makes you hungry! 

Finally Friday - The Survivors by Jane Harper

 Jane Harper is a very reliable mystery murder writer and I like her Australian settings.  The Survivors is a page turner and Harper kept me guessing up until the grand reveal. 

Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. (cover blurb)

Kieran, his partner Mia, and baby girl, Audrey are back "home" to help his parents move to an assisted living. His mother is worn down caring for his father dealing with dementia.  Lingering overhead is the death of Finn and other close friends back on that fateful storm day. 

Now a body has been discovered on the beach. Long held secrets emerge.  cover blurb - a sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away...

A memorial statue called The Survivors sits out from the beach, near the caves. It's a constant presence haunting so many other survivors of that fateful day. As the waves crest, as the police question, tensions rise...Whodunnit?   

Finally Friday - Dreamin'

 Rylee, Disney cruise, Princess Dress.  This is a good friend's granddaughter. 

What is she thinking?

Hopes, dreams, or thinking  about dessert - looked like a lot  of choices  at the  ice  cream bar. 

and the kid loves french fries too....ha!

What will she do in her life....so much potential?

Meanwhile - I seek this innocence, peace, contemplation. 

I'll be honest. I may joke about Disney Corporate blah, blah...but there is magic. 

There were a lot of other pictures showing the sheer joy of meeting Cinderella, Snow White, etc.

They were "real" and these young Disney worker bees truly gave a young girl joy and magic. 

Let this carry you into the weekend with a smile.   Cheers and big hug my blog friends. 

Finally Friday - September 5 (the film)

 Munich 1972

Olympics

September 5 - a day the terrorist group Black September invaded the Israeli rooms in the Olympic Village, they killed, took hostages, made demands, and the sports viewing public saw the tragedy unfold before us thanks to ABC coverage. 

The film September 5 is a stirring, fast paced ninety minute recounting of how a normal sports coverage broadcast day became THE top news story of its time. Peter Sarsgaard plays Roone Arledge, the sports director. He recognizes that he and his sports crew have the inside angle and wherewithal to scramble for the best reporting.   

Keep in mind it's 1972. No cell phones. Filming is done on big reels. Graphics are hand cut letters. CBS has some key satellite usage times and ABC has to negotiate for it. This was not a 24/7 instant news world.  

So, not only is the actual story sadly gripping, but just observing the  technology of the time is "entertaining".  I found myself holding my breath at times, even though I knew the outcome. And tears welled up at anchor Jim McKay's words.    At the end, Ray said, "Wow, that was really good." 

September 5 is a very worthy film to watch.  Kudos to the ensemble cast and the production crew. 

Finally Friday - A Real Pain

By the time you read this review, A Real  Pain might be streaming. It's a small artsy film created and directed and acted in by Jesse Eisenberg.  I've always liked him - he plays an excellent nerdy, angsty dude with a good heart.   His close cousin in this film is played by Kieran Culkin - a rather eccentric actor with soulful  eyes. 

The two are off on  a special Poland tour with an emphasis on Jewish history and the Holocaust.  They leave the tour a day early to visit their grandmother's town to see where she grew  up.  Both men fondly remember the grandmother, but Benji (Culkin) talked to her weekly and took her death hard. He's a "lost boy/man" and even attempted suicide. David (Eisenberg) is married with a young boy, but worries about Benji and is trying  to understand his cousin.

Benji is the charmer and makes friends with all in the tour group. He's extra sensitive and seems to extract MORE from the whole experience. David just wants to not make waves in the world.  The movie is "small" and yet is filled with great acting, a lot to think about in regards to family and connection, and it respects history.  The Poland backdrop is a bonus. 

It's a very weird little thinking movie, and I liked it.  Not  for everyone, that's for sure.