Let the Holidays Begin!

For me, Thanksgiving is the kick-off point for the holiday season. In only 4 weeks, it will be Christmas Eve, then we'll roll right into 2009. And so I sit here on the eve of Thanksgiving, while the turkey finishes thawing, knowing time is going to fly, and I've only just begun buying Christmas gifts. That could be because I don't know what I'll be giving everyone.

The one thing I don't want to do is rush the holidays. One of our local radio stations has been playing Christmas music for a couple of weeks. For me, that's too soon, but even one national chain store was playing the same only a couple of days ago. And, of course, with Christmas coming on quickly, I'll need to download a holiday ringer or two for my cell phone. After all, 'tis the season.

Tomorrow, after two of my daughters are done attending the Thanksgiving dinners of their "other" families, we'll all get together at another daughter's house for our own family Thanksgiving. Somehow this year, I'm stuck with preparing the whole meal, but it isn't a first, and I'll let them take on Christmas dinner.

There's a lot to be thankful for this year, even though we're expecting the economy to get worse before it gets better. I'm always thankful for my family, and everything else is secondary. I hope those reading this are in touch with their own families, whether in person, via a phone call or the internet. Just remember, Christmas really is right around the corner.

I'll go check on that turkey now...

Hair

Strange title, huh? Wait for it...



I've been buried in writing two synopses since Sunday, with no time for blogging or even real life. But last night, before going back to try to finish the synopsis deed today, I treated myself to a movie. What movie? you might ask. Check the title of this blog post.


I was a child of the 60's. Yes, that makes me old, as my daughters like to remind me. I remember when Hair debuted on Broadway, with it's unbelievable nude scene that lasted all of 20 seconds. That's right. 20 seconds. Of course, I didn't see it then. That was in April of 1968, and I was in high school at the time. Hair was made into a movie and debuted in 1979, but I was no longer in high school (thank goodness!), had married and was living in what we often refer to as "the sticks" or "out in the middle of nowhere". We didn't go to the movies much, and I never had the chance to catch it on satellite. (We were living out in the sticks, remember?)


So last night, I remembered that IMDB--yes, that website I keep touting--offers free movies to watch on computer. A few days ago, I'd noticed Hair was one of the movies offered, so I thought, why not? I knew the movie would be good, if only for the music. Who from my generation didn't like "Good Morning, Starshine", "Let the Sunshine In", "Easy To Be Hard", "Aquarius" (one of my all-time favorites) and, of course, the title song, "Hair", sung way back when by the Cowsills? (Remember them?) The movie was strange, it was fun, it made me laugh, and the ending took me totally by surprise. Treat Williams and John Savage were so YOUNG! But then I once was, too.

If you've never seen Hair or haven't seen it for a long time--I'm only almost thirty years late, but hey, I'm a late bloomer--you can see it, along with others, for FREE at IMDB.com. If nothing else, you can wax nostalgic for a couple of hours.


Enjoy!

An Educational Adventure in Space

Well, not really IN space, but close.

Because my oldest daughter and next to youngest daughter left Saturday morning for a one-day cruise, courtesy of Royal Caribbean and United Way, my oldest granddaughter Scarlett spent the weekend with us. My youngest daughter wanted to attend the second day of a school function 60 miles, so we started out on Saturday morning to make the trip, while her mom and aunt headed for the airport.

The trip wasn't bad, and we arrived to find the school get-together breaking up, but we were able to go to the pizza party. Afterwards, we drove to the Kansas Cosmosphere to decide exactly what we would do there and if we could get tickets for those activities. As it turned out, there were no problems with doing what we wanted to do, so we bought our tickets and began our Space Adventure.

The Kansas Cosmosphere is located in Hutchinson, Kansas, where the Kansas State Fair is held each fall. I've been to the Cosmosphere twice, but both times were several years ago and much improvement has been made.

From the Cosmosphere website:

"The Cosmosphere operates the world’s leading space artifact restoration and replication facility and is the only location designated by the Smithsonian Institution to restore flown U.S. spacecraft. Museums frequently contact the Cosmosphere for exhibit production and artifact restoration and replication."

Outside, we were greeted by a 107 foot Titan Rocket, stretching far above the building. Stepping into the building, we were amazed to find a SR-71 Blackbird hanging over our heads from the two-story ceiling. Our first item on the list was to see the IMAX movie, Fly Me to the Moon, the first ever animated movie created for 3D about three young houseflies that stow away aboard the Apollo 11 flight to the moon. It was cute and campy and filled with history of the 1969 flight and moonwalk. After it was over, we continued to the planetarium within the Cosmosphere, where we watched an interactive show about the night sky. (Maybe next time I look up at the stars, I'll be able to find a few constellations!) Then next it was on to Dr. Goddard's Lab, where we saw a live demonstration of early rocket technology in a replication of the 1930s lab of Dr. Robert Goddard, the pioneer of modern rocketry. Finishing up our day of space, we toured the museum, complete with restorations and replicas from space history, including a replica of the Bell X-1 Rocket Plane used in the movie The Right Stuff.

And they say Kansas is boring. If you're headed through our state and you or someone in your family is interested in space, do plan a stop at the Kansas Cosmosphere. It's definitely worth seeing, even for someone like me who was never interested in space. I really should have been. My dad worked at Boeing on the Apollo and Gemini missions. :)

Back on Track

I've been up to my ears in moving websites and finally finished the last of 9 yesterday. Not that anyone will notice any changes. Those are all "behind the scenes". But it has taken a huge chunk of time, and of that time, I had hoped to be blogging. It didn't happen. Add no school for the grandkids on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and it's been crazier than usual in our household.

It's time to get back on track, so I'll give it another try and hope that it works this time. With the holidays fast approaching, I'm not holding my breath.


I did manage over the past few weeks to watch a gift from my oldest daughter last Christmas. I'd been saving it, ready to savor each delicious episode.

According to Wikipedia, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which aired on NBC from September 18, 2006 to June 28, 2007, received mixed reviews. My review of it wasn't at all mixed. I loved it and give it a place on my all-time favorite TV shows. The talented cast, including Matthew Perry (Friends), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), Amanda Peet, Steve Weber (the guy you often love to hate), Sarah Paulson, D.L. Hughley, Nathan Cordry, Timothy Busfield (Thirty-Something), and many more, gave this show the depth that isn't often reached in prime time television, thanks to its creator Aaron Sorkin. After watching the final episode of the 22 episodes, I couldn't help but wonder yet again why this show was canceled. (I heard it was more a political reason than anything else.) Studio 60 was nominated for Golden Globe, received two other wins and 11 nominations for various awards. With superb acting and writing, what went wrong? Too cerebral for a large number of viewers, who not much later turned to reality TV? I admit that sometimes it moved too fast to keep up with details. Sorkin takes a "walk and talk" attitude with his scripts, which means a viewer must keep on his/her toes. Watching it on DVD only strengthened my opinion on how good this show was and still is. I will watch it again, and probably yet again. After all, what's 931 minutes of time spent in enjoyment?

For information on any movie, TV show or actor, visit IMDB (Internet Movie DataBase). It especially comes in handy when you can't remember what you saw a particular actor on in the past, when a movie came out, and other tidbits and trivia. The boards are great to read, too!

Harlequin American Romance - November

Are you ready for some Christmas spirit?

Look for these GREAT books this month at your favorite store! And visit the Harlequin American authors blog. Post a comment for a chance to win books!