Saturday movie review: Life's A Breeze

LIFE'S A BREEZE is a cautionary tale from Lance Daly, director of THE COMMITMENTS (a favorite of mine). What might viewers be cautioned against? Throwing out your elderly mother's household goods without checking with her first.

Life's A Breeze dvd

The 2013 Irish comedy stars Fionnula Flanagan as Nan, the elderly matriarch of...

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Saturday movie review: Love Is Strange

In the film LOVE IS STRANGE, the filmmakers, writers, and actors show that love is indeed strange. And beautiful and confusing and elusive and challenging. Whether between partners, parents and children, family, friends, and friends who feel like family, love is all of that and more. LOVE IS STRANGE hits on all of that, depicting the delicate dance maneuvering through such connections, regardless of age, gender, or sexual preference.

love is strange movie

In LOVE IS STRANGE—which is out on Blu-ray, DVD, and streaming—Alfred Molina and John Lithgow star as...

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6 topics on which I could speak with ease... even if drunk

6 topics on which I could speak with ease... even if drunk

 

I belong to several online writing groups. As a freelance writer, the gathering spots of like-minded wordsmiths are where I most often find support, advice, inspiration.

One tidbit I recently gleaned from such a group was instruction on how to determine the topics that one might determine — and promote to publishers — as his or her areas of expertise. The simple solution offered was to consider...

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Wherein I share a sibling sandwich and grandchildren that aren't mine

I didn't get to spend time with my grandsons or their parents on Thanksgiving. The miles are just too difficult (and expensive) for either of us to traverse at this time.

Making up a smidgen for not getting to see the parts of my heart that live in the desert was getting to share a warm and cozy (and filling) day at my place with many of my mountain-based family members, immediate and extended. That included two of my six siblings — my oldest (Jeff) and my youngest (Susan).

Forget the turkey and taters, this was the sibling sandwich of the day:

siblings on Thanksgiving 

I don't believe we have ever...

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Water under the bridge

For reasons unclear, reasons never honestly shared with me, my younger brother hasn't spoken to me in more than eight years.

This past Wednesday, thanks to my mom and my sister—my brother's twin—my brother and I had no choice but to have lunch together.

Which turned out to be a good thing.

Sometimes the reasons people do the things they do make no sense.

And sometimes, after a while, those reasons no longer matter.

Perhaps what does matter is forgiveness.

And watching the water continue on its course beneath the bridge.

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

Though we've not spoken in years, I'd love to reconnect with _____________.