Pizza and a Movie: Jurassic World

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Ground Beef (hamburger)
Mushrooms
Sliced Tomatoes

Movie:

Jurassic World

Okay – it was a hamburger pizza, complete with toppings you might put on one, and I guess it was in honor of Father’s Day this weekend. But it was tasty, and lighter than burgers would have been. And then we went to see Jurassic World.

We had gone to see Jurassic Park, I think (or maybe, with four young kids at home then, we rented it), and I had read that book by Michael Crichton. I had read and heard a little about this film (“it was the same story, basically”), and like Jurassic Park, it was suspenseful and scary. But I enjoyed the earlier film a lot more.

Although – don’t get me wrong. I’m as glued to the screen when I see (fake) dinosaurs gobble up people as the next person is. The story line was clever enough, and the little bit of dialogue was okay. But the thing that got me thinking the most was, how did that woman run so far, so long, and so fast in high heels?

A lot has been written recently about the same issue, and before I saw the film, I read the New York Times article Science Weighs in on High-Heels. But until I watched the heroine in action, I forgot about what I’d read. Then, I saw the actress wearing them early in the movie. And I kept waiting for her to take them off, especially after another character pointed them out to her.

But she didn’t – at least, I saw her still wearing them, at the end. If a movie (or book) calls for it, I’m happy to engage in the willing suspension of disbelief for the sake of the story, but I must say that in this instance, I had a hard time with it.

Who runs in high heels, anyway? If I were her and a dinosaur were chasing me, kicking off those heels would have been the first thing I’d have done. I do wear heels (and flats), and the last time I wore heels and regretted not taking them off was a couple of years ago, when I danced for too long at a wedding. My feet and ankles ached for days afterward, and I learned my lesson. I don’t really know why I kept them on that night, but I suspect it was the combination of vanity (I had just bought those shoes) and champagne.

In any case, back to the movie, and to the pizza. My husband seemed to enjoy both, and I don’t think he noticed the high heels marathon – he didn’t remark about it. He rarely takes note of what size heels I wear (even though he’s only a few inches taller than me), but once, he did marvel that I had packed four pairs of beige (nude) shoes of various heel height on weeklong trip to Texas and California. I smiled then and took it as a compliment.

Today, I’m off to a book signing at The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, Georgia, along with two other authors. I wasn’t sure whether to wear heels or flats, so I compromised. I’m wearing the heels and taking the flats along in case I need them.

But I won’t be running!

June 20, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: I’ll See You In My Dreams

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Arugula
Corn
Poblano Peppers

Movie:

I’ll See You In My Dreams

My husband and I are as fond of Arugula as anyone else is – but neither of us had ever had it on a pizza before. Interestingly (to me, since I don’t know how to cook – and my husband seemed bemused at my surprise, since he does cook), the chefs added it after the pizza had been baked. So it kind of felt like a (substantial) garnish.

I guess if they hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t have worked out too well. But I was all prepared for something warm and wilty, like spinach.

In any case, it was the vegetarian pizza we had agreed on last week. The arugula made it feel kind of salad-y, too, and it was colorful, light and tasty. Afterward, we headed to the cinema, and here’s my review of I’ll See You In My Dreams:

I’ll start with what I liked (in order):

The singing. Blythe Danner was fantastic at that, and I thought she did a great job acting in the film.
The fact that her character was always asking for, offering, and drinking wine.
The pool guy (not your typical one, but I thought he was sweet, and I wanted the best for him).
Sam Elliott was great, too, and well cast, but I’ve always been kind of 50 – 50 on him, for some reason. However, I thought all the actors were well cast.
The dialogue, for the most part. In one scene, there was a much needed reference to an imaginary guy named Alphonse that I thought was particularly funny.

What I didn’t like:

Basically, the story.

In short, it was sad – sadder than I thought it would be. I felt for Carol (Blythe Danner) and wanted her to find happiness. What she decided on at the end just didn’t quite do it for me.

I’ve read that some people found the movie touching, even witty, and I didn’t think it was a bad movie. But I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would.

Maybe it’s like Arugula, in that you kind of have to be in the mood for it. And you might just love it.

June 14, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: Spy

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Feta Cheese
Italian Sausage
Shallots

Movie:

Spy

You may have noticed that my movie titles are getting shorter. (I can’t imagine a shorter one than this week’s selection.)

Spy was a good film, and very funny. Yes, it was a bit raunchy and had a lot of profanity, but even so, I thought the dialogue was great: well written and well delivered. There were so many funny lines (evoking laughs from the audience) that sometimes I missed the next (probably funnier) line, because I couldn’t hear it above the laughter. The physical humor was also funny, and I didn’t find it over the top. The story was entertaining, and unlike last week’s film, the movie didn’t dissapoint.

If you want to laugh a lot and you don’t mind bad words and silliness, go see it. I thought one of the supporting characters was even funnier than the star of the film.

Now for the pizza. I chose feta, and my husband chose the other two toppings. It worked out fine (even though we had Italian sausage another time, recently), but we agreed that next time, we ought to go for a vegetarian pizza, and make sure at least one topping is green. When I suggested arugula, my husband had a lukewarm reaction – but I have a week to work on him.

Speaking of working on him, our wedding anniversary is coming up later this month (as it happens, on a Friday). I’m sure that over the years, we’ve negotiated quite a bit about decisions, big and small – probably, tons more times than there are pizza topping combinations at Corner Pizza (click on above tab “Pizza and a Movie“ for more about that number). However, it doesn’t feel like it’s been that many times.

Because, I’ve found that if you keep a sense of humor about things (and if you can laugh together), that’s way more important than getting exactly what you think you want, all the time.

June 6, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: Aloha

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Ham
Pineapple
Portobellos

Movie:

Aloha

I’m not fond of cold pineapple (unless I’m eating it in Hawaii), but there’s something about warm pineapple…

This week, my husband selected all the toppings, one of them possibly inspired by the movie we had chosen to go see. My first choice was Mad Max: Fury Road, but the start time of Aloha was preferable to both of us, and we like the film’s actors.

Bad decision.

Because, even though we agreed we were more in the mood for something light (and I’ve always been more of a Mad Max -er than my husband), well, we didn’t really like Aloha.

The story was scattered, haphazard, and even somewhat boring. If you’re looking for a beach resort in it, you won’t find it. There was a great dancing scene (too short) and my favorite scene in the film was towards the end: a pantomime between Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski (sort of like the movie The Artist, but very funny – and I love John Krasinski!). I laughed out loud during that scene, and so did most of the other people in the theater.

But it didn’t make up for the rest of the film.

Oh, well. Good friends of ours are currently vacationing in Hawaii, so it just seemed to fit. I suspect they aren’t eating pizza, but I hope they’re enjoying the sweet, juicy pineapple!

May 30, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: Woman in Gold

This weekend’s Pizza Toppings at Corner Pizza:

Artichoke Hearts
Italian Sausage
Red Onion

Movie:

Woman in Gold

This week, I made the pizza topping choices and the movie selection. I’d read a little about the movie and wasn’t sure I would like it. But normally, when there’s art in a film, I do.

For example:

Big Eyes
The Monuments Men
Ocean’s Twelve (I think that was the one about art, and not Eleven or Thirteen, but I like both of those)
and even My Left Foot.*

I also usually like movies about World War II (too many to list, but The Monuments Men is one of those, too.)

And you can’t go wrong with Helen Mirren.

The story was engaging, and I loved the courtroom scenes. As a bonus, one of my favorite actresses from Downton Abbey popped in as a judge (although not on the Supreme Court). It was based on a true story, something I always find intriguing. I’m not a fan of time travel in movies (or books), but I do like flashbacks, and in Woman in Gold, the scenes set in Austria when the main character was young were powerful and emotional.

And the pizza was great!

*What are some other movies about art or that have works of art in them?

May 25, 2015 0

Pizza and a Movie: Far from the Madding Crowd

For my first Pizza and a Movie blogpost, here’s what we had at Corner Pizza, and here’s the movie we saw last Friday night (click on the tab above, for more info, and the archive list):

Pizza toppings:*

Anchovies
Ground beef (hamburger)
Sun-dried tomatoes

Movie:

Far from the Madding Crowd

Not everybody likes anchovies, but my husband and I do – occasionally. We rarely choose hamburger as a topping (it was his selection, that night), but we often choose sun-dried tomatoes.

It was that rare combination of both a Friday and a mid-month payday, and it was a beautiful spring evening.** I wanted to see the movie we chose (it was conveniently showing at 7:30), and my husband didn’t object. (We both like British literature, British movies, and Downton Abbey.) Plus, we had recently seen Ex Machina, so I was in the mood for something completely different.

Our pizza was very good (as usual), but, not knowing I was going to write a blog post about it, I didn’t take a photo of my first slice. On the way to the show, we discussed the name of the film. Without troubling to check, I insisted that the title was Far from the Maddening Crowd.

“It’s madding, not maddening,” said my husband.

“I say it’s maddening,” I replied. [Maddening just sounded like what it ought to be, and I hadn’t read the book.] “Let’s make a bet.”

“Okay,” he said. “You’re on.”

When we arrived, I found out I was wrong. Oh, well. It was kind of fun to guess and see if I knew it, instead of immediately looking the title up to see. The movie was very entertaining, and well done–both of us enjoyed it–and the characters were engaging. It was a great date movie!

* Here are the topping choices at Corner Pizza:

Anchovies
Artichoke Hearts
Arugula
Bacon
Banana Peppers
Black Olives
Capers
Chicken
Corn
Feta
Fresh Garlic
Green Olives
Ground Beef (hamburger)
Ham
Italian Sausage
Jalapeño Peppers
Mushrooms
Pepperoni
Pineapple
Poblano Peppers
Portobellos
Red Onion
Shallots
Sliced Tomatoes
Spinach
Sun-dried Tomatoes
Xtra Cheese

** And the crowd was neither madding nor maddening!

Note: In your comments, I ask that you not be critical, snarky or judgmental of our topping choices, movie selection, or my post itself…and your topping (and movie) suggestions are welcome!

May 18, 2015 1

THREE things about ALL THE ABOVE, released TODAY!

ALL THE ABOVE is OUT TODAY!!! Buy it now on Amazon and Kindle. If you enjoy it, please write a customer review on amazon! If you would like me to appear at your book club meeting, click on Book Clubs above and fill out the Contact Form.
In the book, a work of creative nonfiction (a.k.a., a true story), people call me by many different names, none of which is my real name. They are Julie, Jule, Jules, Jul, and, of course, Mom. If you’re curious about why, see my post Julie or Julia?
One of my all time favorite songs is Julia by the Beatles…Though that’s not in the book, many other songs are.

March 25, 2015

List Post, mars 2015 (March)

Writing steadily…more on that later.
Enjoyed meeting authors and signing books at the 2015 Augusta Literary Festival! Thanks, y’all! Google the Augusta Chronicle for photos in its Sunday edition of March 8, 2015.
Looking forward to a research trip to Dallas this month.
Can’t wait to see the proof I ordered of ALL THE ABOVE, approve it, and release it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle!
Happy that UNDERWATER now has 60 customer reviews! If you enjoyed it, please add yours! Germany, you too!
In touch with the American Cancer Society to promote what they do and to publicize ALL THE ABOVE, the story of my son’s journey with brain cancer.
AND – grateful to UGA Relay for Life and UNC Relay for Life for posting info and photos about ALL THE ABOVE ahead of its release on March 31! Both events take place on April 17, 2015 – I will be at one, but wish I could be at both. More birthdays!!!
Waiting to hear from the German Cultural Center in Atlanta about a possible book signing – I have several copies of UNTER WASSER (UNDERWATER in German) that I’d love to sign. They have a book club, too!
Noticed it? My website TABS have changed. Check out ALL THE ABOVE – FAQ and BOOK CLUBS, with a “Contact me” form!

March 10, 2015

Living on hope

In a few weeks, my next book, a true story and a work of creative nonfiction, will be released. As I wrote ALL THE ABOVE, I drew on memories of the hardest period of my life to describe my feelings when the unthinkable happened to my son, Jack.

On his 19th birthday and the day after his freshman year at the University of Georgia, Jack was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Sitting right behind his optic nerves, the tumor rapidly threatened to take his vision, and he was rushed into surgery.

For the next six months, he fought the battle of his life.

ALL THE ABOVE chronicles my emotional struggle as my family and I did everything possible to help Jack survive brain cancer. His incredible strength, courage, and optimism inspired me to do the best I could as his caregiver.

Each day, I lived on hope.

ALL THE ABOVE will soon be available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

February 28, 2015

Mission Mode, as mode de vie

At a recent Atlanta Sisters in Crime meeting, the invited speaker, a former FBI Special Agent, described how she kept emotion in check for over two decades when she worked on heartrending, tragic cases: She went into “mission mode.”

Being writers, we pushed her to elaborate. “How did you feel?” asked one member. “What was going on inside of you?” The agent responded that she drew on her professional training and experience to compartmentalize* her feelings.

“I just went into ‘mission mode,'” she said. “You’re on a mission, so you stay in mission mode until you get the job done.” As she described an example to us, tears came to her eyes.

Afterward, another ‘sister’ and I discussed the Agent’s talk, and the term “mission mode.”

“I can use that in my current work in progress,” said my sister, whose book has Secret Service Agent characters. “I’d been looking for the terminology they use for that, and now I can use it in dialogue and elsewhere.” **

I can’t use the term in the book I’m writing. But in a different way, it described my attitude–my mode de vie, or way of life–when my son Jack battled cancer almost five years ago. I went into mission mode trying to protect and support him. I lived on hope. And I refused to take No for an answer. Last year, I wrote the story of our journey together. Titled ALL THE ABOVE, it will be released this spring.

Jack, weeks after his diagnosis and his first surgery (and first scar):

I can’t fathom what’s it like to work in law enforcement, where mission mode is normale, if not obligatoire. As an author, I imagine*** stories–make them up–and though I also have to “get the job done,” it seems a much easier job. But for 6 months in 2010, I had a lot going on inside of me that I shared with no one but my husband.

Until I wrote ALL THE ABOVE.

* my word, not hers

**paraphrasing

*** fiction, that is; ALL THE ABOVE is a true story

February 19, 2015