"Argo" - If You Lived During This Time, Bring Extra Hankies When You See This Great Movie

The airplane scene from "Argo" got my attention and I then watched the whole thing. And again. And again. I can't help but think that anyone born around 1960 or earlier will be particularly affected by massive waves of nostalgia at seeing this movie. (It's a great movie no matter when you were born.)

As a result of this movie, I have learned so much more about the facts of the hostage crisis (more than what the movie shows) and about Tony Mendez, and more.

This movie and the people in it remind me so much of "larger-than-life" people and events in my own life at this same time.

The artists who created the look of this film did an amazing job recreating this time period. For anyone who lived during these days, it is profoundly affecting. (Translation: you will need at least five tissues!)

Photograph: Clea Duvall in "Argo"

Scarlett O'Hara, Vivien Leigh, Mission Statements, and Hot Love Affairs

Recently, I got my daughter to watch "GWTW" with me. Just having her experience this amazing movie, which is so far removed from what's out there today, was tremendously enjoyable. I hadn't seen this movie in years myself, and now I had a very much renewed appreciation for this movie.

As a teen and young adult, I read Margaret Mitchell's novel countless times. I still have my old paperback copy. I have studied much about her life and have always admired Margaret Mitchell greatly - she's definitely one of my heroes.

One thing I love about her was that she, like a few other heroes of mine, wrote ONE... GREAT.... BOOK.

Fortunately I read her book long before the ADHD age we all live in now. I hope I can read it again soon.

In fact, Scarlett herself provided my business with its Mission Statement:

"As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill, as God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."

Yes, that Mission Statement has worked well for us in recent years. We stand by it. :)

Vivien Leigh and her "Scarlett" was beyond amazing. Who can imagine another person playing Scarlett. She was perfect. At the time, she was in a mad love affair with the great Lawrence Olivier and they were reportedly insanely hot for each other for many years. Of course, they married and shared many happy years, as well as difficult ones - it was a great love.

If you have never seen GWTW, you are seriously missing out - run, don't walk, and settle in for a lot of surprises. Then read the book and you'll get an even greater feast of knowledge about a time that was really not so long ago.

In the memorable words of Scarlett, "Take your hands off me.... you drunken fool."

Video Credit: Guiliana Delgado
Fantastic video, Guiliana!
http://www.youtube.com/user/giulianadp

Movie: Gone With the Wind (1939)
The many Academy Awards it received include Best Picture, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel), Best Screenplay (Sidney Howard), Best Director (Victor Fleming).

Video Credit: EternalLveStory08
http://www.youtube.com/user/EternalLveStory08

Wonderful video!

Merry Christmas!

I wish you a Merry Christmas by sharing with you some of my favorite Christmas music:
Mannheim Steamroller: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"


Mannheim Steamroller: "Veni Veni"


Celtic Woman: "Christmas Pipes"

Married, Single, Divorced, Widowed - What???

You're filling out a job application, or it's your first visit to a doctor, and you're handed the usual forms.

The trouble is, they all ask you to describe your marital status!

Here are the choices:  Married, Single, Divorced, or Widowed.

What??

So, if you've been divorced, you can't check the Single box?

If you're widowed, hey, thanks for reducing this life tragedy to a check box on a piece of paper!!

One day, that question will join the ranks of the "not allowed" questions on forms!

They really leave off a lot of possibilities, too.

They should have a check box for:

* Married but planning my escape!

* Single, but secretly seeing a married person.

* Single, and until they pass gay marriage in my state, single, but really married.

* Divorced - YEARS ago.  Why do I still get dealt the "divorced" card??  Please!!  We need a statute of limitations here.

I'm sure you can think of some other possibilities!!

I read a newsletter that proclaimed, "Don't take relationship advice from someone who is not in a committed relationship!!!"

The person who wrote that is very young, but I have heard this from people who are old enough to know better!

Well, I'm single at this writing, and I give relationship advice. A lot of people have found wonderful committed relationships, marriages, and love because of reading my emails and books.

My current single relationship status has no bearing on my IQ, except possibly to improve it.

Oh, wait a minute, I'm not single. Not according to those forms.  I'm supposed to check the "divorced" box, officially.  Wow, that sounds so contentious and negative; it's like being branded!   Whatever the answer, it's a damned nosy question that has absolutely no purpose - except for giving numbers-crunchers fodder for statistics, like the ones that say, "Of the marital status categories, married men are the happiest, and married women are the least happy."  I love that one...

I'm not in love right now, but I do expect to fall in love again and get married. I'm sure when that happens, I'll mention it and even share a photo. But I don't plan to report every detail to the whole world to prove something.  Good advice and information stands on its own.

Contrary to what some people think, you don't prove your worth by being in a relationship all the time.

Check the census and welcome to the new century:  lots of people live on their own... and it's far from tragic!  The unhappily married people envy those who are free and single more than anyone because they know what they've got!

I see a lot of women who just want to grab on to any guy because they can't imagine life on their own.

Then I see other women who will welcome love when one special person becomes a part of their world.  These women write me often: they know what love is and what it isn't, and they don't need to settle just so they have their "man badge" or their "Mrs. Degree" to prove to some outsider that they're desirable or loving.  

Usually, they already GOT their Mrs. degree AND the T-shirt at least once before, when it was so ultra-important to get married before they turned 30.

If they marry again (and get the masters Mrs. degree?) they want to know that the T-shirt will fit and survive years of washings.  They're really not freaking out about being single to please other people's ideas of what makes them acceptable!

It's understandable when people who are really young think this way.... in due time they too will learn about the complexities of life (and of making and voicing negative judgments about people).

It's much better to go down your life path without striving to "find someone" just for the sake of being part of a couple.

I hear from women who are concerned about getting married because of their biological clock.  But we really can't force marriage, even if we'd like it.  Marriage for that reason would not really be marriage for the love of a particular person.  

I believe in love.  But love is highly personal.  It's a lot more than "Married, Single, Divorced, or Widowed"!

Joplin, Missouri

Click on these photos of Joplin, Missouri, to see the full-size version.

Last week, I was in the middle of a long drive for family reasons, and I stopped in Joplin, Missouri, because I wanted to see (and show my daughter) how things were there. A couple of weeks before the tornado hit, I'd stayed overnight in Joplin only a short distance from where the city was ravaged.

We ended up staying in Joplin for several days because our car blew a major belt and had more damage, and the parts had to be ordered. We were blessed to even get a hotel room, and one that takes dogs, too; because every room was booked for weeks. We only got the room because of the kindness of one desk clerk who called another hotel where she knew there had been an unexpected late evening check-out.

In spite of the situation in Joplin, people went out of their way to help us out. People are incredibly nice there. At the hotel's business center, I met a woman who was using the hotel computer because she'd lost her home and needed to enter her customers' Avon orders online, and the hotel was a place she could use a computer and get internet access.

As soon as we arrived, even before the car broke down, it was obvious that Joplin was in a state of transition. There was a lot of coming and going; people were carrying luggage and pets; they were getting supplies and making calls, and there was lots of traffic both in Joplin and entering Joplin from out of the city. Even in Springfield, which is about 50 miles away, the hotels were full of people who were staying there and traveling daily to help out in Joplin, and no doubt with Joplin residents who have been displaced from their homes.

This photo below is a side view of part of the huge campus of Hope High School, which was completely demolished. There was a lot going on there, with food being given away, not far from where there was a mobile health clinic.



Down the street from our motel, in a vacant lot on a busy street (S. Range Line Road), there was this child's bike, far from any residential area.




This song speaks for itself. Our drive was a major transition for us due to the closing of a cherished place and major changes in the lives of many people. The music here touched me greatly.

Send Me a Song - Celtic Woman