Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

 I remember when I was diagnosed with asthma four years ago.  I was nervous but also glad to finally have words for why I suddenly couldn't catch my breath.  I even remember trying to be super cute about the whole thing.  My then-husband bought me a cute little pouch thingy to keep my inhaler in.  I put a sticker of a pickle on it to show how witty I was about it. These days the vibe is a little different.  I find myself troubling over using the right words when I contact my doctor to discuss my COPD symptoms. And I'm asking myself how this went from asthma to COPD in four years? I'm asking myself if my symptoms were always there or suddenly appearing? Is my cough sharper? Is my chest crackle louder? Are the side effects from my new inhaler real or imagined because I read them? Are my hands shaking? Is my heart racing? Then I decided to try to have a sense of humor about it if I could.  Like opting out of fun or work tasks with my new fun excuse: "I'd love to come

 Yeah, yeah, yeah.....I know errrrbody talking about The Holdovers right now.  Set to win (and has already won) quite a few major awards.  An instant holiday classic.  Another Alexander Payne triumph.  Another Giamatti triumph.  True, true, all true. But I'm here for Miss Da'vine, y'all.  Cuz I've loved her ever since the Hulu series version of High Fidelity. Because the humor, wit and lovability that she brings to Cherise damn near puts Jack Black's Barry to shame.  And given that this is one of my all-time favorite movie characters ever (and probably definitely my favorite Jack Black role) this is no small feat. But the humanity and presence of Ms. Randolph cannot be overlooked in The Holdovers.  She's the mother of pain, hurt and resilience.  She's the Wise Woman that every film (and life) needs to have.  She's every grown-ass woman that had to endure the behavior of some spoiled-ass boys (and some of us have the battle scars to prove it).  So I'