Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

Even though I'm not a hiker, I always seem to really enjoy books about hiking like Into the Wild and A Walk Across America.  This one is no exception.  I guess there's just something about the introspection one gleans from being in the woods.  I'm a little hesitant to see the movie starring Reese Witherspoon because I've already heard it veers far off course.  But I've been pretty happy with the book and it was the perfect respite after the long and annoying holidays.....really helps you keep it in perspective.

One of the best and most powerful documentaries I've seen in a long time.  And it confirmed everything I'd always thought about the Pink Ribbon propaganda of our time and the huge sorority party it has become.  Made me wish I was out there working hard for a good cause like I once was.

  Didn't finish it.  I think I don't *get* Wes Anderson.

Sometimes invisible lines in the sand are drawn.  And whether you know it or not, you are standing on either side of that line.

I love Amy Tan's work and read every book she writes, but I guess for me, nothing will ever compare to The Joy Luck Club.  Although there are many similarities.  The rich tapestry of womanhood, sisterhood and mother and daughterhood run through her books so strongly that you almost forget that a man is ever necessary.  And Tan's books almost make you want to forget about men altogether anyway.  This one was a little too Memoirs of a Geisha, but that was a good book too!

I'm not usually one to go for comic book movies, but this one is pretty funny in parts.  And it has a kick-ass soundtrack.  AND Chris Pratt.  And a crazy-ass talking raccoon thingy.  AND Groot! 

Jon Favreau would have to mess something up pretty bad to make me not like him.  But a movie about chefs and a food truck......or any sort of food set-up would have to work hard to impress my husband.  And amazingly, it did!  This movie is super cute and very feel good.  From the authenticity of the chef/kitchen/cooking life right down to the father-son bonding, this flick leaves you feeling pretty good.  And after the Netflix duds I've been picking, we really needed that!  E-Roc and I especially loved the whole corn starch joke.  If you work in a kitchen or love someone who does, you'll get it right away. 

Little Boy continues to love his time spent with the horses, and I grow more and more fond of them myself.  I've learned that Flint here is a rescue horse who previously worked for the Amish, pulling buggies and such.  He is between 22 and 25 years old and has the disposition of a (mostly) kindly old man.  Little Boy is learning to take care of Flint as well as riding him with ease.  He trotted for the first time this past week and the smile on his face was unmistakable.  I definitely can advocate equine therapy for just about any child based on the reaction I've seen from my child and the others we've met at the stables.  Look for a farm near you to learn more!  We ride at Victory Farms, Inc in Gastonia, and I highly recommend!

This movie is so weird and doesn't do anything to make you love your spouse more....just like the travesty that was Blue Valentine .  At least the hubby was smart enough not to get sucked into watching this one with me.  He got out....I didn't......save yourselves!

That season is again upon us.  And while I don't embrace it like most folks, I'm also finding I don't hate it with the gusto I once did.  Could this be growth or healing?

You are never far from my mind.  I'll never forget you.

I don't want to give anything away, but I have to disagree with anyone who didn't like the first installment of Mockingjay.  If you've read the books, you know the build-up was awesome for what's going to happen in Part 2.  To me, even though you see him so little, this part of the series is all about Peeta.....and oh, I love him so.  I thought the last 15 minutes pretty much made the entire 2 hours worthwhile.  And if you just can't wait, read the books!!!!!

Had some cute moments, but not nearly as funny as the first.  The best part is the trailers at the end for the many, many upcoming sequels.  Still, it has Channing, and that's good enough.

This movie was actually surprisingly funny and didn't gross me out the way movies like this tend to do.  We had several LOL moments, and of course, I love anything with my man, Seth.  My only qualm was that I felt there should have been a plot point in which the frat reports the parents to CPS.  But that's just one ex social worker's opinion.......

I remember when the Berlin Wall came down.  I was only 14, and I did not realize the true significance of the moment.  I never really had any understanding of politics as I grew up during The Cold War.  All I knew was that I wasn't supposed to like Russians.  Seriously.  For whatever reason.  All the movies told me that Russians were bad.  Remember Rocky IV for Christ's sake?  My sister and I would watch the Olympic Games with great interest, especially the human interest stories about gymnasts and figure skaters.  I remember asking my mom what was the difference between East and West Germany and she said "West Germany is the good side and East Germany is the bad side".  Really.  Not a very clever explanation, but still she made her point. 

Little Boy is still loving his horseback riding lessons and his favorite horse seems to be Flint.  I'm really starting to like Flint too and am happy to be learning about horses.  They're kinda like big dogs that like to be petted and eat treats out of your hand!  I'm also loving the exercise of the long trail walks while Little Boy rides.  All in all, a great way to spend Saturdays!

I would like to say I loved this movie, but it was really quite mediocre.  And this makes me sad because I love pretty much anything Michael Showalter has anything to do with, so I thought I'd LOVE this.  The premise is pretty funny, and when you realize the film is spoofing You've Got Mail , Jerry Maguire , The Baxter , When Harry Met Sally , Forget Paris and probably several other rom-coms I'm forgetting you can't help but think it's genius.  But then it just falls terribly short and just isn't very funny.  And I have a hard time forgiving David Wain and Showalter for that Bubby scene.  I'm gonna be mind-bleaching that one for a while. 

I sometimes think I am missing some sort of gene that makes me not like The Avett Brothers or Alabama Shakes.  All signs say I should like them, but I don't.  What's wrong with me?

“Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.”   Nora Ephron from "You've Got Mail"     “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”   Albert Camus     “Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.”   Truman Capote from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" 

Warning: You will not feel light and happy and more in love with your mate after this film.  You will feel tired and sad and in need of a shower and probably needing to schedule time with your therapist.  P.S. I say this with love in my heart for both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams!

  Finally read this book.  And it is wonderful and haunting and thrilling and unsettling and so very, very Gen X.  Now I have to hurry up and see the film before it gets ruined for me!

    Meeting Mike Watt after the show.  At least one time when the advice to "never meet your heroes" is dead wrong.  An actual thrill. 

My child finds that he loves horses, and I finally find an extracurricular activity that I can enjoy watching him enjoy.  Joy! 

  This book is so sweet, so girly and so 1970's.  It was the perfect antidote to having spent a good bit of time reading about Vietnam and the racial unrest of the 1960's.  This was my favorite diary entry as the writer describes watching her father play with her newborn sister: I love watching Daddy play with Sara.  I remember exactly how it felt to hold Daddy's hand when I was little.  You could show me the hands of a thousand men and I could pick out my Daddy's, no problem.  In a world full unsettling ugly, sometimes the simple diary scribblings of an innocent young girl can take us all to a good place.   

I have been waiting for this book to be published for 2 years, so I dove right in as soon as it arrived.  Picking up in the early 1960's with extensions of the same families it began with back before WWI, Follett stays the course with the politics and intrigue of the 20th Century.  Being it's the 60's, he focuses mostly on America and all of it's problems: racial discrimination and violence, civil disobedience and a young poon-chasing President who is written as a complete doofus.  I always seem to be interested in one particular family or person in this book series, and this time it was the German contingent.  I was just so intrigued by The Wall, before it went up and after it came down.  I liked the book, and to be sure, the series as a whole.  But I will always be loyal to the very first installment Fall of Giants.  Maybe because it touched on a war that people don't know much about or because it was so far from my time or my own knowledge.  Or maybe, like a

So bad we didn't even finish watching.  Sometimes you need to take heed to the title, folks.

Benefits Downtown Gastonia business as well as local food banks and homeless shelters such as Bread Inc and the Salvation Army Shelter.  Dress up at home or bring cans of food and get your face professionally zombiefied for free!!!!

Kinda funny, kinda sad and very Woody Allen.  If you get that and like those things then this movie is for you.  I liked it okay but would not call it earth-shattering even though Cate Blanchett is wonderful as always.  Really makes you think about who you are and how you would or wouldn't change if the circumstances around you transformed.  

  A cute movie for anyone who loves The Beatles and probably for anyone who's ever loved or been a secretary.  And in a world of greed and overbearing tell-alls, one can't help but be refreshed by Freda's sincerity and discretion.  I'm guessing there aren't many women like this anymore.......

Do you have a hard time believing these old white guys here were a big part of some of the great rock and r&B hits of the 60's and 70's?  Well, believe it!  As studio musicians of a small recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, they played with the greats and then went on to record and discover talent themselves through about 3 or so decades.  This movie is all about the sound that came out of a small quaint town and the musicians that were lured there to capture it including: The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Linda Rondstandt, Percy Sledge, Paul Simon and countless others. 

This film not only manages to capture the power and spirit of Margaret Thatcher in her days as Prime Minister of Great Britain, but also the sadness of her mental and physical decline in her later years.  And it is a sad thing to watch.  Meryl Streep is brilliant as always and so is Jim Broadbent as her husband.  I wasn't expecting this movie to spend so much time on her late life, but I did think it was an interesting spin on the storytelling of an interesting woman's life.  Oh, and it will really take you back to the 80's.....that serious hairstyle up there?  She ain't playing, boys!

So this is a feature I had to watch during my girl time as it was of no interest to my better half.  And I was glad I didn't even try.  It was an okay flick and even had some relatable themes.....if you can get past Lizzy Caplan's always sounding a little bit drunk delivery and the ever so obvious hipster attitude.  I should actually say I appreciated this movie quite a bit.  Because it made me glad I'm not single, glad I married the right guy (the 2nd time, but whatevs), glad my husband is a musician but not a  precious pretentious one and glad I'm not too effed up to say I love you.  There.  That about sums it up. I will give this movie points for opening up to Wilco's awesome "Heavy Metal Drummer".  There.  Now THAT sums it up.

  My child, about age 2, in a previous life......

On the continuation of books I should have read when I was a kid, I finally got to My Antonia .  Set in late 1800's on the American prairie, this book has a message of acceptance and immigration that is pretty relevant today. Every character in this book has an attachment to the "Bohemian girl" Antonia.  So much so, that many of them can't simply say her name but always refer to her as My Antonia.  I think the book can best be summed up by this simple elocution by Jim, the narrator, to Antonia, his childhood friend: "Do you know, Antonia, since I've been away, I think of you more often than anyone else in this part of the world.  I'd have liked you for a  sweetheart, or a wife, or my mother or my sister - anything that a woman can be to a man.  The idea of you is part of my mind; you influence my like and dislikes, all my tastes, hundreds of times when I don't realize it.  You really are a part of me." And the world thinks county folk a

  A lot of folks didn't like this Hollywood spin on the Old Testament story of a man and the great flood.  And I can tell you exactly why.    From the very beginning, this movie looks more like science fiction than the biblical story we all know.  But if you can suspend some deeply held feelings and see some things in a new light with a little creativity, you may get something out of this movie.   But it is dark.  Very dark in some places.  There is also a very strong message of environmentalism and support of the scientific theory of evolution.    And no, it does not follow the Genesis story much at all.    It would take too long to break this movie down when you already know the basic plot, but I will try to put it simply.  If any of the following phrases, pieces, memes, shows, art, music, books, culture or iconography mean anything to you, there will be something for you in this movie:   Ireland; The Middle East; Middle Earth; Hieronymus Bosch; Adam &

Me in the café at the new place.... Whew!  The summer is nearly gone, and I haven't written in so long!  So much has happened.....Little Boy has grown about a foot, I got a new job where I actually work with E-Roc, saw Soundgarden, read the entire Hunger Games trilogy and wear heels to work nearly every day now!  Will be catching up momentarily, so stay tuned!