Overbooked and Underpaid: Notes from a Yes-aholic

Inspirations - More Stuff to Rent

For this week's inspirational renting, I've chosen two movies, one old, one newer.

I saw the trailer for the just released "Life As We Know It" and thought - hold on a minute - I've seen this before.

And I had - the premise is awfully close to that of "Baby Boom" with Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard and Harold Ramis.

I happen to own a copy and I decided to pop it in, as I hadn't seen it in probably 10 years. Even though it was released in 1987, this film really holds up and I found it just as funny today. Plus it has a terrific opening credits sequence by Linda Ellerbee - one of the best voices to ever cross the airwaves.

The other film I'd like to recommend it "Flawless" with Michael Caine and Demi Moore.  It was released in 2007 but I don't remember hearing a single thing about it. I'm not even sure how we came to rent it - maybe my son recommended it - but it's terrific. A heist movie but like no heist movie you've ever seen. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil it.

So, get these movies on your radar for the weekend, pop some popcorn (with extra butter) and settle back for some light comedy/dram/action.

 

Today's Inspiration: The Most Obnoxious Man In The World

 

 

Today's headline may seem like an oxymoron. And it probably is.

 

In keeping with my recent theme of recommending things to rent - either from Netflix or your media outlet of choice - my suggestion for the  week is:

 

Fawlty Towers.

This short lived BBC series (only 12 episodes) never fails to make me laugh. Which should tell you something horrible about me because Basil Fawlty as written and portrayed by the legendary John Cleese is one of the most obnoxious characters to ever grace the small screen.

This pompous, bullying hotel manager/owner makes Steve Carell's character on the office look like a choirboy.

So why am I recommending it under inspirations? 

Because there is something enormously satisfying in watching someone this obnoxious get his deserved comeuppance; as Basil eventually does in every episode. More perfectly - he always does all the damage to himself. And, as violent as these 12 shows are (Fawlty rarely misses a chance to take a swipe at his waiter Manuel), they truly do seem to fall into that category of cartoon violence ala Tweety and Sylvester.

As they say in the disclaimers, "If you have delicate sensibilities or are easily offended" you will want to skip Fawlty Towers. But if you're one of the legion of Python fans that can quote every line from the Holy Grail, you should rent these today.

Today's Inspiration - Inflatable Rafts

Thanks to TV channels that specialize in old shows from the 60's and 70's and also the release of most of these old shows onto DVD's, I can now recommend to you some golden comedy for inspiration. 

This week I'd like to focus on the inflatable raft and it's role in some of the funniest TV ever made. If you need a good laugh, rent the following.

M*A*S*H episode: "Dear Peggy" in which Klinger tries to escape in an inflatable raft.

WKRP episode: "Who is Gordon Sims?" in which Mr. Carlson has his own problems with an inflatable in his office.

Dick Van Dyke Show episode: "The Curious Thing About Women" in which Laura's insatiable curiosity leads to disaster involving, of course, an inflatable raft.

I guarantee you'll be in a better mood after you watch any one of these!

Florence Parry Heide: Cheerleader (Inspirations)

 

 

 

 

 

Today, instead of providing an inspiring link, I'd like to take a minute to thank an inspiring person and reflect a little on how important it is to have someone in your life who can lift you up beyond your own estimation of your capabilities. Or beyond your own estimation of life's possibilities.

It is my great good fortune to count among my friends the amazing author Florence Parry Heide. If you don't have children, you may never have encountered Florence and her incredible body of work in the field of children's books.

 

One of her most famous characters is Treehorn, brought to life in "The Shrinking Of Treehorn" and then featured in two more stories, "Treehorn's Treasure" and "Treehorn's Wish" all illustrated by the inimitable Edward Gorey.

 

Other prominent cartoonists and illustrators who have brought their talents to her stories include such giants in the industry as Jules Feiffer, Tony Auth, and Mary GrandPre'.

    

 
 You can find a catalog of her books on Amazon here.

But, despite her tremendous success as an author and the joy I have derived from reading her books to my children, this is not the most wonderful thing about Florence.

The most wonderful thing is that she is a rarity in the world - a truly positive person.

She will often jokingly refer to her optimism about life and the world in general as a sickness or a disease. (To which I usually respond "Where can I go to catch a good dose of it?") But, of course, it isn't a disease, it is a precious gift. 

One of her favorite phrases is "A new friend is around every corner" and she truly means it. It is not really any great accomplishment for me to be able to claim her as a friend, as she has literally thousands of friends, due to this wonderful philosophy of hers.

My husband struggled for over 14 years before he finally got his comic strip picked up by a syndicate and, let me tell you, those were hard and discouraging times, filled with rejection letters and returned work. I remember that 2004 was a particularly difficult year and John came extremely close to just pitching the whole endeavor and settling down to grow the graphics business. But, during that year, he had something different in his life. And that difference was Florence in his corner. Calling him, encouraging him, sometimes badgering him, "What are you working on? I want to see what you're doing! You're going to be rich and famous - how can you be rich and famous if you give up on your dream?!"

And she made sure to remind him on numerous occasions that for every book of hers that had been published (over 100) there were easily 3 that hadn't sitting in the basement. Some people claim they could wallpaper a room with their rejection letters - Florence probably could paper a house. But she never gave up. She just kept chipping away and chipping away until she got where she wanted to be.

When John finally got the call from King Features that they were picking him up for syndication, Florence was the first person we called. (Well almost the first - we may have called our moms first.)

She has also encouraged me in my endeavors, pushing me on a regular basis , not only to keep writing, but badgering me to make sure to send that writing out to magazines and papers.

But what I feel has been the greatest gift of all is the love and kindness and support that she showers on those around her. It's like having your own personal cheerleader. And it's impossible to be depressed if you are within a square mile of her. On those days that  I wake up wondering if anything is worth a darn, I just think of Florence and it helps me find something to get excited about.

Everyone should have a personal cheerleader, and we should all take her example and strive to be that cheerleader for someone else.

I know I will.

Thanks for everything Florence!!

Eat, Pray, Love (Inspirations)

 

 

So some of my girlfriends and I went to see the new movie Eat, Pray, Love last week.

 

And I enjoyed it.

I wasn't blown away by it - but I enjoyed it.

I suppose I should start off by admitting right up front that I did not read the book. I have not been in a book club for over 10 years and, without that sort of "you have to be able to discuss this book with a bunch of other women" cattle prod against my backside, the number of books I read at all has dropped sharply.

And I suppose I should also take a moment to clarify my feelings about book clubs in general. 

I don't so much like them.

I don't have a problem with them for other people - I think they are a great boon to the publishing industry. Come to think of it - if I ever have a book published, book clubs will very quickly become one of my Very Favorite Things Ever.

But right now, for me personally - not so much.

Perhaps this is because the books chosen by book clubs are almost always either depressing, or designed to teach me something, or both. And, already by the age of 47, I have lived a life pretty close to gritty reality. So I'm not too interested in being depressed or enlightened. Think of me as someone who is very happy in my own personal church and not interested in your particular watchtower type pamphlet.

What I love about book clubs is getting together with a bunch of my friends over some drinks and some snacks for a good chin wag. Just without having to go to the trouble of reading a book first. And particularly without having to intelligently address whatever the main point of the book was. 

I hated doing book reports in school. In fact, it was one of the things I thought was really cool about graduating and joining the ranks of the non-student - no more book reports. 

So one of my goals for this fall is to start - amongst my circle of friends - a "Book Free Book Club". The point being to get together regularly once a month at each other's homes and eat and drink and not discuss a book. We may bring books and recommend them, we may talk about a book we particularly loved from our past or present, we may discuss films - good and bad - we may talk about our children and our husbands and the state of the world. 

But we will not read a book.

But I digress.

Eat Pray Love.

I went to the movie for two reasons: 1) I love any excuse to get together with friends (see above) and 2) I actually saw Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah plugging the movie and it looked really great and funny and inspiring.

And it sort of was.

Except I guess I have been doing my own brand of soul searching for the past 5 years - particularly while dealing with several friends with breast cancer, one of whom didn't make it - and I didn't see a very meaningful journey and/or transformation when I watched the movie.

It was a beautiful movie and I found Julia Roberts engaging as always. But, from the beginning when she bailed on her marriage, I found it difficult to find the Elizabeth character sympathetic and engaged on a meaningful quest for fulfillment - which is, I believe, how the character is being marketed. Rather, she came off as shallow and narcissistic. And, by the end, she didn't seem very transformed - just with a different guy.

Please don't take this as a judgement of Elizabeth Gilbert herself - this was just the feeling I got from the movie. And, to be fair, the book probably does a better job at making her journey clearer. Movies are great for storytelling but not always so great for internal philosophical narrative.

So, since Thursday's posts are supposed to be inspiring, and I realize that, so far, this post has been anything but, I would like to mention a few films that I did find to be truly inspiring as well as entertaining.

1) Chocolat --- one of my all time favorites and my inspiration to become a chocolatier. 

 2) Last Holiday --- the movie that helped me most when my cousin was dying of cancer. If I ever have to face a terminal illness, I'll be using this film as a template.

3) Julie and Julia ---- this is the movie that inspired me to blog and to pick a dream to stick to for once. And I loved the message that we should all find someone like Julia Child to inspire us to be bigger, less judgemental people. 

Bonus - all three films have the most wonderful food - better than Eat Pray Love.

Drawback - after watching them, you'll probably go out and binge on something full of butter or chocolate and gain 10 pounds.

Go ahead and go see Eat Pray Love - I did enjoy it.

But then rent one of those films and invite your friends over to watch it with you.