Recommendations

Being bossy is a gift as much as it is a curse. It is a gift because it comes with this sense of entitlement, like I am meant to straighten everybody out so without much thought I just go ahead and boss those who so obviously need it. It is a curse because, at least in my case, the people I am trying to boss around rarely listen to me. When I turned 40 I became aware of this tendency in myself and have been trying very hard to temper it, with mixed results.

Now that I am done with my disclaimer I am going to share some great movies and books I have recently watched or read. I will not be issuing a test or demands for a book report, as much as I would like to because I firmly believe that because I like these things, everybody should. These are just recommendations for those evenings when you want to rent a movie but have no idea what to get, or you're going on vacation and need a good book.

MOVIES

Just Like Heaven Reece Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo This is a romantic comedy which is a genre I have been rather disappointed with in the last few years. They've become so formulaic (How often do you get to use that word?) and yet, being the eternal optimist I am, I keep watching them, hoping someone will come up with something original. This one is very close to being the original one I've been looking for but not quite. It is refreshingly sweet and despite a questionable premise, they manage to pull it off. The story is about a man who rents an apartment in SanFransisco only to find it is haunted by a young woman who is not happy about the water stains he's leaving on her table. He calls in a number of "experts" to get rid of this ghost with no success and finally decides to find out what this woman's story is. In the process he and the ghost become friends with predictable results that are complicated by the fact she's ethereal.

In Her Shoes Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley MacLaine
I'm not sure what to classify this as, it's not really a romantic comedy, it's not really a drama and I would say due to the absence of any car chases or explosions, it's definitely not an action movie. I will just call it a chick flick. Alicia recommended it to me and I have to say I was skeptical mainly because I find Cameron Diaz to be extremely annoying. Happily, she was not in this movie and actually had a more challenging role than I've seen her tackle yet so I was pleasantly surprised.
The story revolves around two sisters, one extremely responsible, one not so much. Their mother died when they were young, an event which is still affecting both their lives even though they don't know it. After a major falling out, the irresponsible sister discovers a grandmother neither of them knew was still alive and goes to Florida to live with her. The younger sister is played by Diaz and is really unlikable through most of the movie. The older sister is likable but annoying because she's so emotionally cold. What I like about this movie is that the characters are given a chance to redeem themselves, I hate movies where everyone is doomed to be unhappy, I just don't think that's all that realistic.

Serenity Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk
This is a sci-fi flick written by the guy who created Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan but I really liked this movie. It's a good story and I loved the language they use, old but new at the same time. Watch it and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Serenity is a space ship crewed by misfits who are borderline pirates but with good intentions. The story begins when the ship's doctor rescues his sister, a psychic, from the government and brings her on the ship. Naturally, the government wants her back because as everyone knows in the future psychics are commonly brainwashed and used as weapons. This girl is not only a weapon, she knows something the government doesn't want the rest of the universe to know making getting her back imperative so they send an assassin after her and the crew of the Serenity. Of course the girl doesn't even know she knows a secret because she is so messed up she barely knows who she is but little bits of the secret sneak out of her at inopportune moments and are usually followed by her wreaking havoc on whatever place she happens to be in. It's great fun and the secret is brilliant in the way it brings so many elements of the story together.

Empire Falls Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Joanne Woodward
This was an HBO mini-series, I think, I could be making that mini-series thing up but it did definitely air on HBO. Anyway, it's set in a small town in Maine and Paul Newman proves that even at 81 years old he's still got it. I loved his character, it was the best role in the movie, mini-series or whatever it is. Ed Harris is good too. It's a story about a small town in Maine that is whose inhabitants are controlled in one way or another by the matriarch of the town's oldest and wealthiest family. Ed Harris is the main character who runs a diner and is going through a divorce and trying to find himself all at the same time. He seems to be some sort of indentured slave to the matriarch and he loses his spine whenever he's around her. As with anyone who is not living the life they where meant to eventually the universe decides to smack you in the head until you change for the better and that's what happens to this character with interesting results.


That's it for movies. I have read one or two good books lately also.

BOOKS

The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman
I took this to Keystone when Duffy and I went for three days and finished it in two. It's part mystery, part romance and part ghost story. I loved it. It opens at a writer's retreat somewhere in New England. The main character is a woman who has come to this retreat to write a novel that is based on events that occurred at the estate the retreat is located on many years earlier. The events involved a spirit medium who is brought there by the lady of the manor who wants to contact the three children she lost the year before in a diphtheria epidemic. The story alternates between the present and the past. There are very predictable aspects to this story but I found it very engrossing despite these small flaws.

The Lighthouse P.D. James I love this author. She writes such complete characters and the setting of her books always becomes a character itself. The other thing I like about her writing is the story line is never predictable. This book is set on an island off the coast of England where a murder has taken place. (Yes, it's another mystery and contrary to what some people may think, mysteries are literature and count as reading.) The island is a haven for government officials who need a break from body guards, the press and life in general. When a murder occurs on the island the author has set up a typical scenario with a contained environment which limits the number of suspects. Thankfully she foregoes the drawing room climax in favor of giving the main investigator a case of SARS which means his underlings are going to have to solve the murder which they do rather satisfyingly. I was sorry to finish this book because I had fallen in love with the island and I knew I was going to miss some of the characters. I love it when I a book does that to me!

my voice

I am losing my voice. My chiropractor thinks it's because I don't feel like I'm being heard. While there is a very good possibility that is part of it, I grew up with four very talkative siblings and a mother who dominates conversations, I have a different theory. I think I am losing my voice because the universe is trying to tell me to shut the fuck up.

How many things can go wrong?

I love doing massage, I really do. I like to believe that after 10 years (yes, 10 YEARS) I have become quite good at what I do. The one thing I still struggle with is keeping my brain focused on what I'm doing for the entirety of the session. It's something I have been working on I'd like to say since day one but really it's only been for the last maybe three years when I realized that being mentally present during a massage may make a difference. I don't know, I could be wrong. Anyway, in case you're wondering if this is actually going somewhere, yes, it is, be patient and all will become clear, grasshopper.

I love doing massage and I love my massage office and I'm really getting much better at paying attention while I'm giving someone a massage but I have this problem. The guy who lives right next to my office, he is my problem, as is the dog that lives next to him and the flight for life helicopter our city insists on using. Those are my problems in a nutshell.

Let me explain. This afternoon I was giving this really nice woman a massage. Today is her birthday, she's up here from Albuquerque and she's a massage therapist. Can I just say I really wish I didn't know that last little bit of information. It gives me a terrible case of stage fright and then I'm just sure they are hating everything I do. Yes, I realize this is a confidence problem and I need to get over it and I'm quite competent at what I do but I'm trying to stay focused during my massages. I can't stay focused AND work on my confidence problem all at the same time. I'M JUST NOT THAT AMAZING. Anyway, despite the fact that I know she is a massage therapist I felt the massage was going well, we were 30 minutes in and she hadn't expressed disgust and demanded to leave so I felt pretty good... and then it all started.

It began with ADD boy next door. ADD boy does not live next door, thank god, but he is either a relative of the man who lives next door or the son of a friend of the man who lives next door. I don't really feel it's my place to criticize the way other people raise the children... alright maybe I do, but this boy's father needs to be smacked repeatedly. He pulls his van into the drive way which is right next to my office window and then goes inside, leaving one, possibly two highly excitable boys in the car with DUCK CALLS. I kid you not. At first I thought some bird was being slowly tortured by a cat but then I realized it was not a real bird making those sounds, it was ADD boy and his brother. I tried to ride it out thinking surely the dad will come out and tell them to quiet it down but after what seemed like an hour but was really only 5 minutes I gave up hope of that happening. In the meantime I was so distracted I'm pretty sure I massaged my clients hair rather than her back because, as I have mentioned, I have a problem with staying focused. I finally gave up hope that that loser of a father was going to do anything about the racket and excused myself, went outside, yelled at the boy with the duck call and I had to yell because he was being so loud a normal tone of voice would have been pointless, and then returned to my client after putting the fear of god into ADD boy. It actually worked for about 5 minutes before the fear of god wore off and he started up again but thankfully his loser dad came out and took him and his brother and their stupid duck calls away. Who gives a hyperactive child a duck call anyway? How is that a good idea?

The quiet was blissful. My heart rate returned to normal, I was back to focusing and had managed to convince myself my client may actually be enjoying the massage when the big dog with the really booming bark started up. Who knows what that dog barks at, it could be someone walking down the street. It could be a cat skulking around just out of big dog's reach. It could be leaf fluttering down to the side walk. I don't know but I do know it doesn't seem to take much to set him off. Yes, I realize it is probably karmic payback for all the ALLEGED barking my dogs have been accused of doing but once again I am trying to work on focusing during a massage, not trying to be understanding when karmic payback picks a really bad time to occur. Finally, big dog decided whatever he was barking at was not the threat he imagined and stopped, only to start up again a few minutes later and then stop again. At least he wasn't as loud as ADD boy with the duck call but still.

At this point I was really having a hard time focusing on what I was doing but with a herculean effort I managed to get back into focus when the flight for life helicopter flew over. When I say flew over I may be exaggerating because what I think it actually did was hover over my building for a good 15 minutes before remembering to move on. I swear to god I expected storm troopers to break down my door and demand to know what I thought I was doing giving a massage to a massage therapist who would know what a fraud I am and couldn't possibly be enjoying the experience.

Thankfully, after the helicopter moved on the rest of the massage was uneventful. I was a basket case but apparently I give a really good massage when operating in basket case mode because she said it was one of the best she's ever had and she gave me a $15 dollar tip... not that I'm tooting my own horn or anything.