Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

This book is to prison what Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed is to poverty.  It's a respectful case study brought by a person who lived it, Piper Kerman.  I found it really valuable in explaining the incarceration experience as well as the hardships that often follow it.  Kerman had the gift of knowing that she was basically an anthropologist gathering research and would be gone in one year.  Most others will not have that luxury.  Her experience teaches something that most of society never stops to understand: the humanity of the imprisoned population, a population that is growing exponentially every year.  And while I know a lot of people (A LOT) really love this show, I find it depressing as hell .  The series is very different from the book as it delves more into the personal stories of the varies inmates in a way that the book did not.  I suspect that Piper wanted to protect her friends and fellow "campers" whereas Netflix has no such courtesy.  But

Listen to this song , written in 1915 during The Great War (WWI), and remember that war protest has always been very much American.  And as always, this blog supports soldiers and veterans.  However, it has never and will never support war in this country or any other. 

Can I just say something about this new trend that the world seems to think is gonna happen?  That men are gonna wear one-piece rompers this summer? First off, I just don't see it happening.  If those things don't come with some sort of quick way out for the pee-peeing, I just don't see guys wearing them.  Too much trouble for them.  Women have been putting up with taking their clothes all the way down forevs.  Guys?  Not so much. I don't have any hate for the outfits if that's what someone is into.  Personally, I don't think they're very attractive on a dude.  Even if the dude has a great body.  They just don't work for me.  To each his own and all, but I don't dig it. It's not like I'm opposed to guys wearing one pieces.  Like overalls.  I was a teenager in the 90's when this was veeeery trendy.  But again, it's not really a good look for a guy.  Not like this. See this guy right here?  This guy works for

So while it might seem tacky to make a movie on the premise of a 43 year-old ditzy woman who doesn't know the father of her baby is between 2 men, it actually makes perfect sense when you consider this woman is Bridget Jones.  I have always been a fan of the first book by Helen Fielding as well as the first movie in this series of three (and maybe a 4th....there does seem to be a cliffhanger at the end of this one) but overall I am a fan of Bridget herself .  And here's something a bit bizarre, I love Bridget in the movies more than I do in the books....whuda thunk it?  But I think it has everything to do with the warmth that Renee Zellweger brings to the role....I find myself rooting for Bridget every damn time no matter how ridiculous her situation has become.  Nothing happens in this movie that I didn't expect, but overall it wasn't a bad way to spend a Friday night....with Bridget and her two lovely mens.  Oh!  And I also appreciated how the movie made it okay

Since it was written in 1985 (and later made into a film in 1988) this book really made me yearn for the homey quaintness of the 80's that only seem quaint now after so many years have passed.  It also made me think that more people are undiagnosed on The Spectrum than we know.  But it is a beautiful novel full of interesting characters that could probably be boiled down into this simple sentence: life is not something you can truly ever plan.  And it's filled with a few clever passages that I just loved: As the main character thinks about the events that have lead him back to living with sibling as adults in the very same house where they grew up: "He almost wondered whether, by some devious, subconscious means, he had engineered this injury - every elaborate step leading up to it - just so he could settle down safe among the people he'd started out with."  And given our current political climate, this clever quip by a teenager especially rings true: &

"And when i see you happy as a girl that lives in a world of make-believe it makes me pull my hair all out to think i could've let you leave....."

I don't think I could remember hardly a moment of my teenage years that didn't have your voice somewhere in it. Thank you for what you gave me.

"Let's put our heads together and start a new country up Our father's father's father tried erased the parts he didn't like...." 

 I really liked this movie for the same reason I really liked Apollo 13 or Arrival , I like knowing that there are people out there that are this smart doing exceptional things.  But this film will make you feel bad for the same reasons The Help made you feel bad.....you have to face the fact that women of color were doing extraordinary things all the while fighting against ridiculous rules and rude white people at every turn.  And even educated people!  That's what sticks.  Fortunately, this story was finally told to a wider audience.  We can only hope that more and more of these similar "hidden" stories will also be shared. 

I hate to admit this, but this film did not endear me to the love story of the Obamas.  There are a lot of people, myself included, that have a lot of love for the former First Family.  But any of us would have to admit that this film would not give you a lot of hope for a couple getting off the ground romantically.  If these were your friends and the date was being re-told to you, as a friend you would never imagine they were going to see each other again.  Is there chemistry?  Yeah, I guess in that weird one admires one while the other tolerates one kind of way, sure.  Of course, the film is meant to show the fire that both of them had from a  young age, and I think it succeeds.  It just doesn't show much fire between them.  Not in that first date kind of way.  Not in my experience anyway. The best thing I enjoyed about the movie is the revisit to the times.  It was the summer of 1989.  The soundtrack is stellar.  They go and see "Do the Right Thing".  The

I'm gonna go out on a limb and call this film a modern day Beaches.  It's sweet, heartbreaking, completely relatable and stars two of the great actresses of our time: Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore.  Watch it with your bestie or hoard the tissue box alone.  (Also stars Dominic Cooper who is a big hit on Preacher right now.....and not hard on the eyes....just sayin.)

Some of you are not good people. You may have a heart, but that heart is so closed you may as well not have one at all.  Your hands are cold and hard and don't know how to hold and provide warmth.  Your hunger, your urges, your needs are the only ones you feel.  Your legs walk only for yourself.  Your veins are filled with ice.  Your brain is closed.  Your eyes are clouded.  You hear but don't listen.  You see but have no vision.  Your loins are dry.  Your senses dulled.  Your body is practically a shell.  Some of you are not good people. You lie to get what you want.  You cheat to have more.  You do things that aren't altogether wrong but definitely aren't right either.  You break the law.  You bend the law.  You break and bend people to your will.  You're a user.  You're an instigator.  You tell yourself that what you do is okay "because reasons".  Your life is a game of subterfuge and everyone around you is a pawn.  You cover your tracks. 

This isn't a bad movie, but it was mis-marketed as a comedy.  It's either a not really funny movie with some serious subject matter, OR a serious movie with a few funny scenes.  At any rate, it does touch on the fact that the world all but forgot about the Afghanistan conflict in the mid 2000's all the while there were still soldiers and correspondents still in the thick of it.  Tina Fey is brilliant as always, but overall I think I could have hit the snooze button on this one.  Sorry, Tina.  Let's still be friends, k?

Learn about Ella Mae Wiggins and the Loray Mill Strike that occurred in Gastonia in 1929.  I have lived in Gaston County all my life, and everything I've learned about Loray and Ella Mae I had to seek out on my own.  There are traditional songs about her and then some less traditional .  There is lore and mystery.  But these days, there is still a struggle for some.  Learn more about International Workers Day and keep the memory of hardworking people like Ella Mae Wiggins alive.