Close Enemies

This film has been on my to-do list for months and I'm finally hitting play. So far so good. Another knock-out performance by Matthias Schoenaerts. 

(photo kidnapped from filmaffinity)

Autumn Leaves

I love this pin set by Kate Gabrielle, but I'm trying to be more sensible on my purchases and decided to just post it here on my blog rather than buy 'em and add them to my bulletin board. It's gonna take a lot of dedication to tune in to the whole minimalism thing...

(photo kidnapped from kategabrielle)

Aspiration

Three years ago today I was wandering around the canals of Dublin trying to track down Rowan Gillespie's Aspiration. I was getting fed up, feeling like a fool going up and down the same streets until alas, there it was!

Art Deco Golden Nights

Of course I would come across this stunning pair of shoes as I'm trying to downsize and focus on minimalism. I won't get them, because let's be honest, where the hell am I gonna wear them eight months in to what it bound to be a two year long pandemic? But they sure are the dog's tuxedo.

(photos kidnapped from hotchocolatedesign)

Turkey Shoot

Photo shoot, that is. Amy sent me these pix that her hubby took of their lovely birdies. Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Dublin Postie Just for Me

Does this gal know how to brighten my day or what?

October 2020 Donations

Zeitgeist 

Marilyn Bamford passed away on September 27th and in the obit, some of her favourite charities and organisations were mentioned. I picked Zeitgeist and donated in her name. 

Zeitgeist is a nonprofit arts and community development organization.

We are committed to growing and sustaining a community that is inclusive, diverse, and equitable; artistic and vibrant; environmentally conscious; and a place where every individual can thrive. Working in partnership across our region, Zeitgeist connects like-minded organizations and people to collaboratively create programs that make lasting change.

Zeitgeist is about enhancing and enriching the life of our community. We offer artists a venue to earn income from their work, and encourage them to be bold by offering them a venue free of censorship, judgment, or restriction. We support the local economy by committing to purchase from local farmers, businesses, and craftspeople. 

World Central Kitchen

The fabulous cast of Father of the Bride gathered to give the world Father of the Bride 3-ish and it was a god damn delight. I absolutely loved it and donated to the cause they were promoting. 

A hot plate of food when it’s needed most.

Ten years ago, my wife Patricia and I had a big dream to start World Central Kitchen. We envisioned an organization that would create smart solutions to hunger and poverty, and for many years we saw an amazing impact through our clean cookstoves initiative, culinary training programs, and social enterprise ventures that empower communities and strengthen economies. But we had no idea we would one day be answering the call in Puerto Rico and around the world – “Food First Responders” serving millions of meals each year. In the process, we learned that a small NGO can change the world through the power of food.

Last year, WCK activated in response to dozens of disasters — some of them natural, and some man-made. From serving children in the shelters on our border with Mexico to making deliveries by lamplight to those keeping watch over beaches in Indonesia, our fight to feed the hungry has taken us to more places than we ever expected.

At the same time, WCK continues planting roots in the communities where we work. Our Plow to Plate program is helping to create food resiliency in the face of future disasters. In Haiti, aspiring chefs are obtaining the skills and confidence they need to elevate their careers and the country’s tourism sector.

With your help, we have shown that there is no place too far or disaster too great for our chefs to be there with a hot plate of food when it’s needed most.

I hope you’ll dream with us as we envision a world where there is always a warm meal, an encouraging word, and a helping hand in hard times. Thank you for taking this journey with us.

Join me in fulfilling the inspiring words of John Steinbeck: Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people may eat, we will be there.

We must be there.

José Andrés

Founder, World Central Kitchen

Please join me in the Low Budget Philanthropy movement and help out your community and beyond in the simplest way - donating any amount to whatever charity or organisation that you care about!

October 2020 Books

♥ The Exorcist ¹ by William Peter Blatty - As good the third time around as it was the first.

* Dracula ¹ by Bram Stoker - I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this. It had been in my Audible wish list for a while and then once it became part of the "Included" for free with my membership I downloaded it and dove right in. Brilliantly written and conceived, also providing a new word to add to my vocabulary: epistolary. (An epistolary novel is one written as a series of letters, diary/journal entries, etc.)

Awful Auntie ¹ by David Walliams - This was cute but definitely not my fave David Walliams book.

* Who Stole Halloween? by Martha Freeman - Saw this at Baldwin's Book Barn and decided I needed a fun little Halloween read. This one was about missing neighbourhood cats (one of whom was called Halloween) and the two super sleuths that unravel the mystery. 

* The Grapes of Wrath ¹ by John Steinbeck - I knew this wasn't gonna be a happy tale but the writing was spectacular, the narration superb, and the cast of characters were so real. It was so dreadful what people like the Joad family went through in the Dust Bowl but thank Christ for writers like Steinbeck to weave their stories into all the generations to come.

♥ 'Salem's Lot ¹ by Stephen King - Read (or rather listened to) this last October and couldn't wait to give it another go. I still had to fast forward any scene with little Randy's monster of a mother. She is one of the most vile creations of fiction and just thinking about her makes my blood boil. I absolutely loathe her. Regardless, everything else about the book is pure perfection.

* Not My Father's Son ¹ by Alan Cumming - I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into with Alan Cummings' memoir but I am so glad I listened to it. I intuited that his father was gonna be a real son of a bitch and that Alan's childhood would not be strewn with happy memories and stories of cuddling with his Pa watching the telly and I was right. But this book was less about his bastard of a father and more about Alan the man and how he took the nothing and became something. Just loved it.

* The Alchemist ¹ by Paulo Coelho - I got this specifically because Jeremy Irons narrates. 

Island of the Blue Dolphins ¹ by Scott O'Dell - This was one of those books that I remember kids reading when I was in grade school. It was interesting but didn't bowl me over in any kinda way.

Holding ¹ by Graham Norton - I couldn't wait for this to be over. I was so unimpressed.

Duchess By Design by Maya Rodale - An historical romance book that I think I snatched from one of those Little Free Library boxes. It started out interesting then slowly dissolved into a mess of boredom.

♥ The Secret Garden ¹ by Frances Hodgson Burnett - When I was but a slip of a girl my parents bought me this book. I never got around to reading it, for some reason. I always pushed it aside thinking that I'd read it later. When I saw that it was available in audio format I knew I had to give it a listen. Oh it was so good. And the 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame version with Derek Jacobi, Gennie James, and Barret Oliver was quite faithful to the novel, although I preferred the book's ending. 

¹ - audiobook

² - abridged version

* - liked

♥ - loved

Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

Early Christmas with Kay

Lockdown is upon us once again and so Kayla and I went to The Colonial to see Tim Allen in The Santa Clause, a 90s holiday favourite. The theatre and pretty much all of Bridge Street, which was blocked off so people could shop outdoors in sort of a sidewalk sale, was a virtual ghost town. I hate what this pandemic is doing to once bustling streets and small, independent shops. So many empty storefronts - it's just heartbreaking. But sadness aside, we chatted and sipped our root beers then giggled along to the silliness of the film. Always wonderful to see this lovely lady.

(ps - the trailer for the new Ghostbusters flick looked so good even before I knew what it was!)

Sweet 'tater Toast!

Heart Beet Kitchen had sweet potato toast a couple years back and it's even super yummy when I make it at home! 

The Man of the Hour

William Hootkins has been in my life for years only I'm just now realising it. I first looked him up in IMDb when he played Federal Agent Burt in one of my fave Poirot eps, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat. His American accent was so over-the-top that I had to see if he was a Brit overdoing it. Turns out he's American through and through and was in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Then I happened to look up William Hootkins to see if he narrates any other books aside from Moby-Dick and discovered hey! that's Agent Burt! Then I found out he was in Star Wars as well as the best Batman film ever made, Tim Burton's version. Few performances can top his reading of Moby-Dick. Hootkins gives such life to all the characters and even the (sorry) dull bits that go on and on about the ins and outs of the sperm whale, he still manages to hold my interest until he gets me back on that boat with the crew, ready to take on the thrashing seas and find that white beast of the ocean! I had to message Amy and tell her of my discovery.

I Miss

Driving around with Donna and singing (badly) to Garth Brooks' Callin' Baton Rouge the live version. That and just hanging out and being silly.

Moby-Dick

Decided it was high time to give this story a listen. I sampled some different narrators and finally settled on this one by William Hootkins. He's fantastic! I found myself driving around aimlessly, not wanting to hit pause for the next day. The scene where Ishmael and Queequeg meet at The Spouter-Inn had me cracking up laughing. It's so good.

Tiniest Car in the Lot

I ♥ Walter Mercado

Saw Mucho Mucho Amor, a wonderful doc on Netflix about a man I'd never heard of or ever seen before. A Puerto Rican legend around the globe that I somehow missed until now. He's like Richard Simmons and the Dalai Lama, someone solely concerned with spreading love and joy. Someone very easy to love. A bright light in a world that so often focuses on the negative. Just a great guy, so unique and charming.

(photo kidnapped from netflix) 

I texted Natalia, who is helping me with my Spanish and it felt so good to have even a very brief conversation in a language I've been struggling with for 1057 days.

Grounds at Dusk with Anne

Anne had never visited Grounds for Sculpture at night, so I booked us a 4pm time slot and off we went. It was a perfect evening, cool but not cold, windy but not blustery. I scored a couple pretty decent shots.

Back to The Colonial!

Before things get really bad again and we are once again on lockdown, Zach and I put on our masks and went to our favourite place - The Colonial in Phoenixville. This time we saw that Thanksgiving classic from John Hughes, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. There were only eight of us in the theatre but there were laughs from every corner, most times before the scene as we knew what was coming. Then we were off to Baldwin's to pick up some Agatha Christie and Ian Fleming for Zach and two David Foster Wallace books for me (hooray!). A great day out with this fab kid, plus Fred was working behind the counter at Baldin's and rang us up with his warm crinkly eyes, telling us that beneath his mask was a genuine smile.

Happy Bday to Autumn!

For my fellow journal and book enthusiast I turned to Helen Coldwell to work her magic and create this one-of-a-kind beauty for my oldest friend in the world. It is one of Helen's finest achievements in a long history of mind-blowingly fantastic bookbinding gems.

(book photos by Helen Coldwell and lovely photo of Autumn kidnapped from her Instagram page.)

Truth and Beauty

When I had asked Autumn about her top three favourite books, she mentioned that one of them was Ann Patchett's Truth and Beauty. I saw that it was available on Hoopla, and read by the author to boot! Wanting to know a little of what to expect I found that it is a memoir of the author's friendship with fellow writer, Lucy Grealy. Who dat? I thought to myself and then clicked some more links to find that Lucy Grealy wrote Autobiography of a Face. I had heard of the book but never read it. Low and behold, that was also available in audio form on Hoopla. I checked that one out first, so as to have a working knowledge of the subject of Truth & Beauty before giving it a listen. I really loved Lucy Grealy's book and wish that I had read it in high school. I so completely connected with her and how she felt about her looks and people's reaction to her. Today I finished Ann Patchett's book and love her for her devotion, support and genuine adoration of her dear, dear friend, Lucy. I normally loathe people recommending books to me, but I'm so grateful to Autumn for bringing these two marvelous reads to my hot little ears. 

(photo of Lucy Grealy kidnapped from irishamerica) 

(photo of Ann Patchett by Heidi Ross kidnapped from startribune)

Merrion Square Art

One thing I really loved about Dublin was that every Sunday there's local artists at Merrion Square displaying and selling their art as part of the Open Air Art Gallery.

Below painting by Anto Whelan

Oscar Wilde by Brendan Higgins

(You can find the artists displaying their work around the perimeter of Merrion Square. Times: Sunday 10-5.)