Friday Fun - Revolution - The Beatles

She Loves You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
You say you want a revolution?
Baby You can Drive My Car
Let It Be
Penny Lane
Eleanor Rigby
Twist and Shout

and so much more.

The Fort Worth Symphony nailed it this past Sunday. It's not just four lads with guitars and a drum set.  The Beatles truly had some amazing orchestral songs and the symphony was on full display. Along with a band and excellent vocalists, they kept us singing along with over thirty songs from the Beatles brilliance. And as a bonus, stunning video and animation. Pictures from the Abbey Road archives gave us a flashback to those young lads from Liverpool who changed our world.

Truly - a Revolution experience.   Shout out to Linda, Tom, and Julie - we had a fun lunch and then some culture. A rave review afternoon.

Wednesday Wisdom

You don't have to reach for the stars, to be among them

Today, a good friend I've known since high school, Terri Leonard Cook, is being put to rest. She passed away Saturday morning after a long kidney battle.  She is pictured top right when the PA gals got together in 2004.

Terri was incredibly brave through two kidney transplants, tons of dialysis, and plenty of other health struggles in between.  Through it all, she enjoyed her family, grandkids, and friends. Thoughtful, kind, artistic, funny -  Terri loved Elton John music, Harry Potter, and books.

She will be missed and remembered. I'm fortunate I knew her as a friend.

Wednesday wisdom - don't take your health for granted. Be a good friend. And listen to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road....

Movie Review - Bad Boys for Life

Bad Boys, Bad Boys, whatcha gonna do....

They're back - older, wiser, and one wants to retire. Mike (Will Smith) is still a bachelor, working old school, driving fast, and not wanting things to change. Marcus (Martin Lawrence) is ready to retire, he's got a new grandson, and is tired. He's made it fairly safely through his twenty five years - he's done.

But, there's some revenge kills happening and Mike's on the list. The young crew, AMMO, a special police division, are researching cartel action, trying to piece it together. Mike and Marcus have that banter we love and they are in for this last ride together. Hope it's not to die together.

Bad Boys for Life is a mix of crazy blow 'em up, serious friendship, cop history, old school techniques versus new age technology - all against the backdrop of Miami - blue water, fast cars, bikinis, and glitz.

Ray and I enjoyed this piece of fluff. Plenty of funny lines about old age (we're talking 50s here, but in cop life that's a long time). Smith and Lawrence have great comic timing and you can tell they had fun making this film. Bad Boys for Life - hug it out.  Then change that grand baby's diaper.

Book Review - Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser

I was extremely excited when I bought this book. I loved the Little House series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I was interested in reading about her life. Well, be careful what you wish for. Caroline Fraser has gone above and beyond in her research and detailed writing of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life.

Prairie Fires is a Pulitzer Prize winning piece of non-fiction. It is beyond detailed and frankly, for me,  it got tediously boring. I think the reference notes have reference notes. This is my problem. I do not fault the author - she absolutely achieved her mission. She covered grandparents, parents, droughts, grasshopper, deaths, and more in extreme detail. Her epic tale of Wilder's life truly encompasses an amazing story of survival. It spans Indian Wars to Dust Bowl.

I guess I wanted Laura-lite. I wanted to zoom to her writing career. Truly her life of struggle, rootlessness, and poverty made Laura Ingalls Wilder the writer and achiever she was late in life. She recast her hardscrabble life into a childhood series on homesteading. I skimmed a lot in the book and it was interesting, but also a bit of a slog.

Congrats to the author for her Pulitzer and for her hard work. She truly revealed a complex Wilder life in Prairie Fires.  I admit - I just wanted to roast marshmallows for a few hours.

Wednesday Wisdom

Wherever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government -
 Thomas Jefferson

Check your sources folks, read a variety, trust but verify, and think...ponder....think

Monday Moments - Martin Luther King Jr.

I've used this picture before - Peace and Teach.  I think it's applicable for Martin Luther King Day - a day, a concept, a man's dream that still needs to be fulfilled.

A dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed "that all men are created equal."

Let freedom ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city. 

An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.

Much to contemplate, much to teach and learn. 

Peace on this MLK Monday - we should all have this dream

Book Review - Text When When You Get Home

Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer hit me with a very positive vibe. I am someone who's kept longtime friends (junior high, high school, and college. I even have a friend from grade school days). I value friends and I work at keeping friends. This book's research and reporting demonstrates the power I have - a solid foundation of friendship.

Back cover blurb - A beautiful portrait of how modern female friendship has evolved to be a positive force that is making women stronger than ever - You will find something in this book that will make you want to text your own person and tell her how much she means to you. 

I met the author's parents at a business Christmas dinner. Lovely people and you could tell how proud they are of their journalist daughter. The book idea piqued my interest and so I got it. They had reason to be proud. This is a very hands-on friendly book with plenty of examples from Schaefer's own life and friendship journey. She's in a competitive field, but learned she needed solid friendships to keep her grounded in this crazy world.

cover blurb - Text Me When You Get Home is a validation. A thoughtful heart-soaring deeply reported look at how women are taking a stand for their friendships and not letting go. 


I'll give a shout out to my valued friends - Joan, Helen, Trish, Terri, Lisa, Mary Ellen, Debbie, Linda T, Linda H, Julie, Trish V.  I am very lucky!