Slice of Life Sunday: Movie Review-Authors Anonymous

December 7, 2014November 23, 2014

I reserved the movie Authors Anonymous from my library after someone recommended it. The plot sounded amusing. I’m in a writing group. I’m always looking for a good flick.

The story started out cute, a mock-umentary of sorts, and I thought I would enjoy the movie. But almost immediately, the alleged heroine wasn’t likable. She never went to college. I don’t see that as a problem. But she couldn’t name a favorite author. She couldn’t name any author. Throughout the entire movie. She’d never read a book, yet she was a writer and became extremely successful during the course of the story. She’d never even heard of Fitzgerald or Hemingway. Because she’d never been to college.

EXCEPT: I read Fitzgerald and Hemingway in high school. I went to a small, rural public school, not a posh, private school for exceptional students. We read The Great Gatsby, The Old Man and the Sea, and several other books/authors mentioned in the movie.

I really didn’t like the portrayal of successful authors as ignorant. Authors read other authors. Even the prolific Nora Roberts says, “I don’t think you can write — at least not well — if you don’t love stories, love the written word. One of my greatest pleasures is falling into a story someone else has written.”

The other female in the writing group couldn’t pronounce anyone’s name. She was trying to come off as smarter than she was, and it didn’t work for her.

The only redeeming quality in the movie was the realistic portrayal of vanity publishing.

This movie may have been directed by a woman, but the underlying misogyny of the writer and his jealousy of the romance genre were first and forefront.

One star.

Slice of Life Sunday: Pool to Haven Pt 5

November 30, 2014November 15, 2014

Apparently one of my neighbor’s father was selling plants out of the back of his pickup. My landscaper bought a bunch.

My landscaper also moved some stone.

Then it started raining. Almost daily. For weeks. So here we sit.

Thanksgiving: Food & Beyond

November 23, 2014November 23, 2014

I have never cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner in my life. We’ve always gone to my mother’s or (in the early years of marriage) to my in-laws’ for the holiday. In recent years, we’ve all started contributing to the meal. I seem to be in charge of the “yellow vegetable” category.

I made butternut squash with baby spinach several years running, but spinach and cranberries have been added to the ever-growing list of foods someone in the family can’t eat. We also try to avoid dairy (two severe allergies plus several intolerant of lactose) and gluten (one severe allergy). In 2012, I tried to make a Sweet Potato Galette, which didn’t turn out quite as wonderful as I’d hoped (the story is here), but did become the basis of what I’m now asked to bring to all autumn/winter feasts (fresh fruit salad is my spring/summer contribution). This dish is more savory than sweet–the thought of marshmallows on sweet potatoes makes my teeth ache. And yes, some of these photos are from that earlier blog.

Wash the sweet potatoes. Please note I purchased long, narrow ones to better facilitate the slicing process.

Peel the potatoes. Then slice (I use a ripple mandoline, but this year, I purchased a new slicer thingamabob.)

I usually buy 6 sweet potatoes, which makes just enough of a side dish for our family of 14 (give or take).

I also chop one sweet onion (which tends to be large). I mix all of this together with Wegman’s basting oil. (If you don’t have a Wegmans near you, perhaps your supermarket sells seasoned oils. If not, you should move some place where there is a Wegmans. It’s worth the move. Seriously.) Put the mixture in a casserole dish/glass baking pan (My lasagna pan is perfect). Bake at 400F for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

The great thing about this dish (besides meeting everyone’s dietary requirements) is that I can make it the night before, then take it to my parents’ in Tupperware and reheat it in their microwave right before the meal is served. Couldn’t be easier. Unless someone else made it.

I’m so lucky that my family can still be together on the major holidays. We’re a clever bunch of people who try to accommodate each other whenever we can, and that’s good, too. Getting together isn’t about the food, though. It’s about being a family and being there for each other.

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” Eric Hoffer

Slice of Life Sunday: Yoga & Me

November 16, 2014November 9, 20144 Comments

I have always been attracted to the idea of yoga. Calming mediation, spirituality, plus the physical benefits seem like a wonderful combination. Several decades ago, I signed up for a local school’s adult education class in yoga. I went once. First of all, I have a bad knee and couldn’t do many of poses. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, I was with older women who couldn’t wait to try “this yogurt stuff.” Seriously. There was no mental inclusion, just twisting into pretzel shapes. I was in the wrong venue.

Now I am an older woman myself. I’ve wanted to try yoga again. I want to be centered.

I bought a yoga mat.

I bought a yoga DVD.

I bought books about yoga and writing.

But DVD wouldn’t play in the player in my bedroom. There was no room to roll out my yoga mat in the family room.

Then I bought a new lap top computer. The DVD plays in the computer, so I tried doing yoga in my living room. There was enough room to roll out my mat, but that was about all.

I’m not a fan of exercise. I do wonder if I’m more attracted to the idea of yoga than actually practicing it.

We’ll find out soon. I “reclaimed” my home office. There is now plenty of space for yoga practice.