Claudia — Page 1171

What We’ve Been Up To (Not a Whole Lot)

February 26, 2015 at 9:11 am by Claudia

Not a whole lot to report from our little igloo. February is almost at an end and it’s been a doozy. We broke out yesterday for a short time to do exciting things like buy stamps and mail bills. Whoo hoo! And then we ran to the grocery store to stock up on a few things.

Then we drove up the driveway that has become a tunnel surrounded by snow, and nosed the car into its increasingly smaller parking space.

We watched Arthur on TCM last night. I love that movie. Just what we needed – a lovely, laugh-out-loud, beautifully acted movie. Dudley Moore is brilliant. John Gielgud is also brilliant. Liza Minelli is wonderful, as is all of the supporting cast. What’s not to love?

And this weekend? Oh, boy. Netflix releases the new season of House of Cards. I’ve told Don that we cannot binge watch…we have to limit our viewing to two episodes a night, so that we can stretch out the pleasure of watching that amazing series.

What else are we into lately?

2-26 meyer's soap

We love this soap. We have an ongoing bath soap dilemma here. One of us likes one kind of soap, the other doesn’t. So we keep switching brands. But I think we’ve hit on something we both like. The scent of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day soap is herbal and light. It’s not too perfumey, just clean and subtle.

I use the lavender. Don likes and uses the lemon verbena. That way, we’re both happy. Order has been restored in the bathroom.

I like to use scented candles when I’m away from home, especially when I’m staying in a small apartment. Candles are not only comforting, they also help to eliminate cooking smells. (I have a very sensitive nose!) So, though a bit pricey, I bought this candle from a neighborhood shop in Brooklyn.

2-26 meyer's candle

I’m glad I did. It came home with me.

No, this isn’t a sponsored post. Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day has no idea who I am. I just like their products. I use their liquid soap in the kitchen, as well. Have any of you tried this line? I ask this knowing that each of us has our own personal preference as to scents and soaps and scented candles. What do you use?

Oh, don’t forget! Today is the last day to leave a comment on the book review post. I’ll draw a winner tonight, so you have until about 6 pm EST.

Happy Thursday.

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On Books and Snow and Mini Books

February 25, 2015 at 9:02 am by Claudia

2-25 christopher fowler

Happily, I was right. I did have the first book in this series, Full Dark House, on my bookshelves in the bedroom. I knew I had a book by Fowler, but wasn’t completely sure it was the first. Don’t you love the font that is used for the title and author’s name?

They are now on the To Be Read stack on the very top shelf, as opposed to the To Be Read stack on the second shelf from the bottom. If by reading that sentence you have sensed an implication that I have far too many books ‘to be read’ – you are right. Or in the words of Ed McMahon, “You are correct, sir!”

Gosh I miss the Tonight Show of the Johnny Carson era. I love Jimmy Fallon, don’t get me wrong, I think he is a wonderful host and wildly funny. I just miss the days when Bob Hope might appear one night, or Gregory Peck, or George Burns, or Dean Martin. Ah, well.

The snow is piled so high around here that it feels like we are in prison. The shoveled/snow blown area where the car is parked is getting narrower and narrower. Pretty soon, we’ll be squeezed out!

We are yearning for Spring. At this point, the advent of Spring seems to be an impossibility, but we know it will come. When? That’s another story.

In all of our discussion on this blog and on Just Let Me Finish This Page about the ‘new’ Harper Lee book (and I have another link about that on JLMFTP today), we neglected to ask Caroline what she thinks about it.

2-25 dollhouseTKAM

There it is, on her coffee table; always on display, well-thumbed, read and reread. Caroline, by the way, is a Professor of Literature. She specializes in Twentieth Century Literature, so her opinion on all of this would be interesting, to say the least. I did hear some mumblings and grumblings emanating from Hummingbird Cottage on the day the news of Lee’s lost manuscript was announced. I was too busy to stop and chat with her. Besides, Caroline is rather private and I respect that. When she wants to talk about it, she’ll let me know.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page today.

Happy Wednesday.

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Back Home, Plus a Little Rant

February 24, 2015 at 9:08 am by Claudia

2-23 little paws

Sweet little paws; photo taken just this minute as my girl sleeps deeply in Mom’s “tunnel.’

I missed her so much. And her dad, too. I got home around 2:00 yesterday afternoon. Within an hour or so, I was vacuuming. Don did a great job around the house, but he doesn’t see what I see, you know? He made a wonderful dinner and we cuddled on the sofa.

Sigh of happiness.

What a lovely experience working on An Octoroon was. It was such a gift, out of the blue, and I’m very, very grateful. Yes, it’s nice to earn some money, but even more, I was exposed to a powerful new play that is simply stunning. I wouldn’t have seen it, otherwise. Every night, I looked forward to watching it again. The actors are very talented and perfect in their roles; in the case of some actors, multiple roles. The director is amazingly inventive. This play was mounted last year at Soho Rep, which is a well-known off-Broadway theater with a house that seats maybe 40 people. Theater for a New Audience is remounting it in their new theater, which is about 10 times the size of Soho Rep, so it’s a wonderful opportunity for the play to be seen by more people. It won the Obie Award for Best New Play of 2014. The director of the play is also the Artistic Director of Soho Rep.

As always, I leave one place and leave a part of myself there, while I sit here at home wondering how the Press Night tonight will go and how rehearsals will go this afternoon and tomorrow, ahead of Opening Night on Thursday. Such a lovely group of people – starting with Jeffrey, the Artistic Director of Theater for a New Audience.

Grateful.

And now, a little bit of a rant about the Oscars. First, let’s just agree that there can’t really be a “Best” anything. It’s all subjective. It’s all a matter of taste. Every year, I find myself feeling the push-pull to watch the ceremony, all the while knowing that this kind of competition is flawed and, in the end, unfair. That’s a given.

Sunday’s telecast brought some familiar complaints, along with a few new ones.

1. The tendency to play music and cut off an award winner’s acceptance speech. This is nothing new, it’s been happening for years. But it’s insensitive. This is an award show, after all, and for the winners, a dream come true. It well may be the greatest moment of their professional lives. They deserve to be heard. Is an inane joke from Neil Patrick Harris more important than 30 more seconds of an acceptance speech? It shouldn’t be. Pawel Pawlikowski, director of Best Foreign Film winner, Ida, was interrupted twice by ‘play-off’ music from the orchestra – fortunately for us, he ignored it. The winners of the award for Short Documentary, in this case, a film about suicide hotlines, were interrupted by play-off music as one of the winners was speaking about losing her own son to suicide.

Could the producers be any more insensitive?

2. And, in that same vein, right after that winner was interrupted in the middle of her heartfelt words about her son’s suicide, Neil Patrick Harris made what he thought was a humorous comment about her dress. Totally inappropriate – was he even listening to the speech? In a night full of not-very-funny jokes and in some cases, insensitive ones, this one really ticked me off. Listen, I know Neil Patrick Harris, I’ve worked with him. I’ve coached him. He is a lovely guy. So I’m not saying anything about his character. I’m speaking to the whole Oscar Show mentality – where gimmicks and jokes and not-very-good production numbers and constant hype about Lady Gaga or Neil’s Oscar predictions seem to take precedence over the the actual awards.

3. Yes, Lady Gaga sang beautifully. I wasn’t at all surprised because I know she’s a trained singer. Good for her- she did a great job. It’s lovely to see her show her quite impressive chops. But, it says something about the show itself when the appearance of Julie Andrews brought a sigh of relief. She is a true multi-talented movie and theater star, gracious, elegant, and as classy as they come.

4. In Memoriam. I don’t even want to go there. So many artists were omitted. I advise you to go to tcm.com and watch their In Memoriam tribute, which is much, much better and heartbreakingly beautiful.

Okay, I’ve ranted long enough. I’m happy for the winners, all of whom are immensely talented. But the Oscars are getting to be just another awards show: all glitz, ratings-driven, badly written and misdirected.

Just some thoughts from a movie lover.

Happy Tuesday.

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What We’ve Been Up To (Not a Whole Lot)

On Books and Snow and Mini Books

Back Home, Plus a Little Rant

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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