Brighter Than Sunshine

“Based on a book” film series

Except where noted the series will be held 6pm-8pm the second Thursday of each month in the meeting room at the Savannah branch of RHCL from August 2010 thru May 2011. A short discussion will follow each film. Reading the novel beforehand is not required. I just listed the author so you'd know it. The discussion will focus mainly on the film.

The library should own all the films/novels by the time the series starts. The films/novels that we don't currently have we're in the process of buying and they should be on the shelf by August 12th.
The host will be me (Jenny Ellis)--for the time being. If I leave during the series one of the other workers will take over. The schedule should remain the same. It's not a "club" so feel free to come to any or all films.

August 12th: Possession by A. S. Byatt

September 9th: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

October 14th: Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

November 11th: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

December 9th: Little Women (1994) by Louisa May Alcott

January 13: Chocolat by Joanne Harris

*February 10: Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg

*March 10: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

*April 14: Phantom of the Opera (2004) by Gaston LeRoux

*May 12: Pride and Prejudice (2005) by Jane Austen

*5:30pm start time due to length of movie. Otherwise 6:00pm start time.

I promise to love you forever, or until I find someone with a better profile picture...

Facebook, the social networking site, which connects old friends and allows users to make new ones online, is being blamed for an increasing number of marital breakdowns.

Divorce lawyers claim the explosion in the popularity of websites such as Facebook and Bebo is tempting to people to cheat on their partners.
One law firm, which specialises in divorce, claimed almost one in five petitions they processed cited Facebook.
Mark Keenan, Managing Director of Divorce-Online said: "I had heard from my staff that there were a lot of people saying they had found out things about their partners on Facebook, and I decided to see how prevalent it was. I was really surprised to see 20% of all the petitions containing references to Facebook.
Conference organiser Emma Brady was distraught to read that her marriage was over when he updated his status on the site to read: "Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady."
The popularity of the "Friends Reunited" website several years ago was also blamed for a surge in divorces as bored husbands and wives used it to contact old flames and first loves.

The UK’s divorce rate has fallen in recent years, but two in five marriages are still failing according the latest statistics.
Mr Keenan believes that the general divorce rate will rocket in 2010 with the recession taking the blame.

I shared the parts of this story that I thought were safe for everyone to read. For the whole story click here.

Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives...

When was the first time you held a secret? Was it in 1st grade when the girl next to you told you her favorite color was pink? Or maybe you discovered that your right hand was bigger than your left. Either way, it's the tingling sensation you get in your stomach when you hold that little slice of power. It's your secret! You can tell someone else, or keep it to yourself. Sometimes it's serious, and sometimes it's meaningless. But what would happen if we started letting our secrets out? That was the idea that Frank Warren had. “It began at an art exhibition in Washington DC. For my exhibit, I decided to print out 3,000 one-sided postcards, inviting strangers to share a secret with me; something that was true and something they’d never told anyone else. I handed out postcards anonymously, leaving them between pages of bookstore books, library books and on park benches. Out of that batch, I got 100 back and I posted the anonymous secrets in my exhibit. I thought that was the end of it but I was wrong.”

“The simple concept of the project was that completely anonymous people decorate a postcard and portray a secret that they had never previously revealed. No restriction are made on the content of the secret; only that it must be completely truthful and must never have been spoken before”

“Each secret can be a regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation.”

This book made me laugh and cry. I wanted to hug the people who were brave enough to send their secrets out into the world, not knowing what would happen. They expressed pain and joy, sadness and laughter. They were real. I wanted to share a few of my favorites:

"All the time we've spent in love...
I didn't really know you loved me
until you danced with me...in public...
even though you didn't know how.
Even if I never get that chance again,
it was worth the awkward fumbling
to know that what you've said is true."

"I'm still in love with her.
I hope she reads this,
and recognizes my handwriting.
This is also my last try."

"Dear Frank,
I have made six postcards with secrets that I was too afraid to tell the one person I tell everything to, my boyfriend. This morning I planned to mail them, but instead I left them on the pillow next to his head while he was sleeping. Ten minutes ago he arrived at my office and asked me to marry him. I said yes."

There are two kinds of secrets: those we keep from others and those we hide from ourselves.

Rain Rain Go Away!

This is Andrew. Andrew has a ball. Andrew is going to bounce the ball to Megan. Megan is on the second floor of Dicks Sporting Goods.....

One fine day...

What you will need:
- 1 baby (hint: the results are much more rewarding if the child A: has been known to scream in your ear B: has been known to pull your hair or C: just hates you in general)
- 1 Rocking Chair
- A nice day

Today was a break through! Baby Mara has been known to scream the moment I try to sit down. She knows the reason I'm at her house is because her mother will soon be leaving. Which I must say is pretty impressive for the age of 1! But today, I just sat down, and we swayed back and forth. 5 minutes later, she was fast asleep in my arms. When her mom came home, she didn't scream. She just looked at her, and smiled. Yes, today was a good day.

The Grand Tour

~London~



~Versailles~



~Giverny~



~Cambridge~



~Ely~



~Bath~



~Germany~



~France~

Steve Moakler

I first discovered Steve Moakler with his single "Hesitate" that aired on ABC's Private Practice. Since then I've completely fallen in love with him. His other songs include 'All the Faint Lights' and 'Look at Me Love'. Check out his blog at http://stevemoakler.tumblr.com/ or his website at http://stevemoakler.com/. But if you only do one thing, be sure to check out his new album on iTunes!

Charlie Daniels Geico Commercial

Pasta Salad

Perhaps I am crazy, but I am prone to think that my piano teacher can walk on water. She is such a delight, and has transformed the way I play the piano. As you all know, my mother and I took a two week trip to Europe, and it just so happens that Margie also took a trip to France! Since we both know how much we love to "chat" about our trips, I have decided to go a bit early for my first summer lesson this week so we can enjoy lunch together. While in Germany, I purchased some music note pasta, and found this great recipe online that I'm going to try. Since I know how busy my week will be, I'm posting this now, but will be sure to update everyone with a picture of my own!
http://friendseat.com/Pasta-Salad-w-Asparagus-Tomato-and-Mozzarella-Recipe

1/2 lb of Asparagus
Salt
Black Pepper
1 lb Pasta
1/2 lb. Fresh Mozzarella, cut into small cubes
1 large bunch of Scallions, sliced
2 dozen Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup Olive Oil
Zest and Juice from 1 Lemon
1/2 cup Lightly Toasted Pine Nuts
Large Handful of Fresh Basil

1. Put up a large pot of salted water for cooking the pasta and bring it to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes. Scoop the asparagus from the water with a large strainer spoon and place in a colander. Run cold water over it. Drain well and slice into small pieces on the diagonal, leaving the tips whole.
2. Bring the water back to a rapid boil and cook the pasta. Run the pasta under cold water and drain very well.
3. In a large serving bowl, add the pasta, asparagus, and all the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper, and toss well until all the pasta is well coated with dressing. Taste for seasoning.

I plan to serve it with a fresh French Baggette from Napoleons in Kansas City.

Headaches of phenomenal dimension, and other such diseases that can be cured with tea

In the age of new and exciting technology, I tend to live out my hair color. I can easily hide behind my iPhone, pretending like have the slightest clue on how to work it; when the truth is that some days I have to actually turn the stupid thing off to remember how to get back to the inbox of my email. Many days I contemplate chucking it out the window of a moving car, or flushing it down the toilet. This morning I spent 15 minutes reading status updates on Facebook thinking, how on earth do I know all these people? It then dawned on me that I had been scrolling down a friends profile. It quite often takes me a good amount of time to realize that my headphones aren't all the way plugged in, or that I typed the word I was thinking into the password box, instead of my actual password.
While it may be true that I will soon be crushed in the tidal wave of iPhone 10G (can someone please tell me what the 'G' stands for!) but I do understand books. I kicked off the summer with a Box Hill Picnic with the Jane Austen Society of North America, where like minded people shared wonderful conversation (see Box Hill Picnic post). In lieu of filling out my summer reading list (I may be 17 years old, but I had a great childrens librarian!) the discussion turned to books that are simply written to sell books. You know the type. The ones that are shoved upon us at Christmas, Valentines Day, and the end of the school year. First it should be said that I am the stereotypical person that marketing people have in mind when they create their adds. I have been known to cry during car commercials, and to try every single over priced that Sonic comes out with. I am the girl that cheers for USA throughout the entire Olympics, but then later cries for the Russian girl who missed her back tuck. I mean, look at her coach! His face is stuck in that frown, his wife failed to tell him that his uni-brow ages him, and he will probably make that poor girl do 5,000 back tucks out in the snow until she finally lands it! "Just give her the medal!" I want to scream! At any rate, it was recently brought to my attention that Tyra Banks will be quitting her talk show next year. Apparently she's bored with the show that " gives young women the 'girlfriend' they want to hang out with, and the role model they need", and will now be moving on to bigger and better things. Although this will not include her joining the Peace Corps, or opening a orphanage, she will be fulfilling her life long aspiration to reduce illiteracy. She recently signed a book deal with Random House for a young adult book line based on Super Models with Super Heroes! You must be thinking, "how selfless of her". But wait, it get's better! She even has plans to turn this series into a movie in the near future! "I have this notebook I write (like) everything in and started working on titles and breaking down characters," she revealed to Variety. "And I (like) kept going and going. I knew I didn't want it to be some autobiography (ha, as if you could even spell autobiography!); I (like) wanted to create a fantastical place." Okay, I couldn't resist adding in a few bits of my own to her heartfelt announcement. But in all seriousness, is this really happening? Is this what the literary world is coming to? The reason the classics are in fact classics, is because they are timeless. Jane Austen failed to supply us with the latest brand of quill pen, or who had designed the gown the queen wore to such and such ball, and yet no one thinks that Jane slighted us in any way! Why, you ask? Because no one cares! 100 years from now, all the adds and commercials will have been lost and forgotten. But the human character, that is something that will always remain the same. We understand Emma and her moments of foolishness, and know men like Mr. Darcy who drive us insane! "Where there is tea, there is hope", which leads me to suspect that we will survive this after all.

New item for Bucket List

I've decided to watch all the movies who won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Many I have already seen, but with my love of music, I would love to be able to say I have seen all these films. For the complete list see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Original_Score#2000s

Box Hill Picnic

^Yes, this is a tea hat

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