Movies: I've enjoyed the commentary on the latest movie ratings post. As I commented there, I so rarely go to the movies, but I love the ratings anyway. And hey, I am going to the movies this month: we're going to see The Wizard of Oz in the theater! Thank you, Fathom Events.
When I was a kid, we would watch the movie when it was on TV once a year, and I remember bringing my pillow with me so I could hide my face when the witch was on, she scared me so. My mother says she isn't sure she's seen it all the way through--I suppose she was moving around doing things rather than actually sitting down and watching. It will be interesting to see what she remembers. I'm looking forward to seeing it go from Kansas to Oz in bright color on the big screen.
Books: I just read a book that I had heard about via more than one blog, In Love by Amy Bloom, so if you've written about it recently, take credit.
Mind you, I am returning it to my library with a note:
I can't imagine how they came up with that. Her name is on the cover, and I checked, the book is also copyrighted under her name ... so who decided to change that? I'm giving some serious stink-eye to my otherwise beloved library here.
Yarn: In addition to the vast haul I got at the yarn store, I recently got some yarn that I ordered all the way from Australia! Yeah, just around 9,000 miles away, no biggie, right?
I hadn't heard of Birdhouse Fibres before, but I follow some yarn-related hashtags on Instagram and saw a photo from them there, so I clicked on through.
Mind you, I am very cautious about ordering yarn online that I haven't encountered in person before. In addition to the question of how colors show up in photos, I have been to enough festivals and yarn stores where I have touched something beautiful and found it to be too firm/harsh for me. So the first thing I looked at wasn't the yarn per se, but the info about their yarn bases.
The didn't have a separate page for that (some do, some don't), but I found that, while there was nothing with cashmere in it*, they listed both Ultra Sock and Squish Sock, both of which are 85/15 Merino/nylon. Ultra is described as "bouncy and durable" while Squish is "soft and luxurious"--ding, ding, we have a winner! I'm willing to take a chance on that.
*Always what I look for first; I've never touched yarn containing cashmere, even just 10%, that didn't meet my so-soft standards.
I looked through the available colors, considering this combo and that, before deciding on a set where I felt good about how well they would go together (sometimes I manage that on my own, but sometimes they don't go together as well as I thought they would). For the distance it traveled, it really didn't take that long to arrive, and it is SO soft!
And beautiful.
In a library, memoirs are classified as biographies which are then organized by about whom the biography (or memoir) was written. That's the only way it would make sense. If I wanted a biography of Barack Obama, I wouldn't have a clue which author had written one! So, I would look under Obama. I'm terrified of the Wizard of Oz. The "witch" on her bicycle! The house falling on the witch and just her legs sticking out! The flying monkeys! However, I did watch "The Sound of Music" every year and loved it. Still do. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point. It totally makes sense to me for biographies, but in this case at least, the book is about her, and her experience. I feel like if she had wanted it under his name, she would have published it that way. I look forward to asking at the library.
DeleteWe also watched The Sound of Music every year! I didn't really understand the darker subplot, so it didn't scare me as much.
If she'd written it as non-fiction, it would have been under author's name, but a memoir is a biography which is a different classification. If the memoir is actually about her, you could talk to the library about re-classifying it but if it's about him, it would be under his name.
DeleteThis is Lisa of Lisa’s Yarns. It makes no sense that it’s filed under her husband’s name! Yes it’s about his decision to end his life but it’s not about him! I would say it’s more her experience as the spouse supporting someone making this decision. I also loved this book. We read it for book club and had such an amazing convo since nearly everyone has lost someone or had someone struggling with dementia. I am glad you enjoyed it as well!!
ReplyDeleteIn Love has been on my list for a long time but whoa, how weird is that, that it is filed that way. I'll have to see what my own library does. Wait, maybe I have it on Libby hold. Never mind, nothing to see here.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen The Wizard of Oz the whole way through, because it absolutely terrified me as a child, similar to ET.
I remember seeing ET as a kid and not that I was scared by it; what does that say about me? Though I was about 13-14, so maybe if I had been younger I would have been.
DeleteI'm 100% in agreement with Nicole here. The flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz scared the absolute s*** out of me. I cried for an inordinately long period of time. (ALSO. I cried watching a Nat Geo-type documentary when I realized elephants and tigers and bears are just WANDERING AROUND THE EARTH and this has really stuck with me because those animals are real, unlike flying monkeys.) And ET was equally terrifying. Why do we show kids traumatizing things like that?
ReplyDeleteI totally understand being scared by the monkeys, though the witch was the worst part for me. What was it about ET that was so scary? I haven't seen it in a long time, maybe memory is being kind to me!
DeleteI know everyone loves that book and I believe you that it's well-written, but I think it would be too sad for me. On the other hand, I watched Wizard of Oz every year as a kid and it never scared me. So, scary- yes. Sad- no.
ReplyDeleteI would never say "everyone should read this" because people are different, or at different places in their lives, etc. I was a little wary because my mother's memory is definitely getting worse, and one does wonder. But I still loved the book.
DeleteThat's gorgeous yarn! Re the Wizard of Oz: my grandparents had one of the first color TVs when I was quite little and we would go to their place once a year to watch the Horse of Another Color actually have colors now! The the Amy Bloom book--thank you for putting that note on there, because what on earth?!!
ReplyDeleteI have In Love on my bedside table right now. I haven't started it yet, but I heard enough to know I NEED TISSUES HANDY!
ReplyDeleteYes, you do! But it's worth it.
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