May Madness

Summertime in Texas starts in May, which happens to be my favorite month.

Here's what I've been up to:


Cultural stargazing. Saw "A Chorus Line" for the first time at the glorious Bass Hall in Fort Worth. Our seats were amazing...we could peep over into the orchestra and watch. I'd never seen the show before (I'm the last one, I know.) Who knew musicals could be so...introspective?


Reading. (Of course.) John Burdett's Bangkok 8 still hasn't left my consciousness. A mystery set in the mean streets of Thailand, it's a sensory soaked trip with one of the most horrifying murders set to page. The end offers up a nightmarish twist you won't forget. As Owen Meany would say, it gives me the SHIVERS!

Writing. The creative process for book two (working title: Mulligan) is going well, and I'm learning more than I thought I ever would about tobacco, autism, the PGA tour and how to knit. I promise, when you read it, it all makes sense.

Being a birthday girl, for several days running. (Insert Anthony Michael Hall's "You say it's your birthday, bananananana") We had friends over and celebrated in grand style on the back patio, with twinkly lights overhead. My husband made grapefruit margaritas - sounds gross but they rock - and we chatted al fresco until the wee hours.

Background music - a great birthday gift from my tunally inclined friend (thanks, Joel!):


Rosanne Cash's new album Black Cadillac. Try it, you'll like it.



And then, possibly the most exciting, over-indulgent gift ever, from my mother. Two words: Manolo Blahniks. They're more beautiful than a pair of footwear has a right to be. But I promise to love, honor, and adore them. Sigh.

Questions o' the day:

Live musicals - seen any?
Birthdays - greatest gifts ever? And sentimental counts...

Friends With Money

I have a movie-going friend whose mother (another film freak) serves as sort of a barometer for us. She goes, she sees, she reviews.

And she's usually dead-on right. So, it was with great disappointment when my friend's mom called the new Jennifer Aniston flick - Friends With Money - degrading.


Ouch. 'Cause, um, I really wanted to see it. How could you not race to catch a movie with Catherine Keener, Joan Cusak and the fantastic Frances McDormand?

She had me at "I guess that was your accomplice in the woodchipper." [Fargo.]

We forged ahead and saw it anyway. What does it say about me that I didn't find it degrading at all? I liked it - enough to add it to my recommended movies for 2006.

Aniston plays a pot-smoking maid adrift after a disastrous last year of teaching rich kids. Her big money friends try to guide her to the next (more successful) stage, all while living their own screwed up lives. I found it more about marriage and choices than friendships, but I enjoyed it all the more for transcending stereotype. The dialogue crackles and each actor brings layers and texture to a truly ensemble piece.

What other movies are you loving right now? Have favorite go-to films? You know, the ones you own on DVD and watch again, and again, and again...

Perspective

Today was a great day. Why? I hung out in Walgreens for thirty minutes and then waited in a healthy long line at the post office.

Sure it doesn't sound like fun, but it's all about perspective. Because today I jumped through those less than glamorous hoops for a reason: a new passport!

For this do-not-pass-go globe trotting pass I posed for shiny forehead photo at the drugstore, filled out the paperwork (my dad was born in Washington, fyi), pulsed cash to cover costs, raised my right hand and swore to a government official wearing a ponytail and a cabana shirt that I am said person in said ridiculous photograph. All so I can go on vacation to a place that looks like this:

 

The trip is still weeks and weeks away, but my husband and I are already mentally packing. Paperbacks, bathing suits and sunglasses. That's about it, baby. In my heart I'm already on that beach chair, kicked back in the ocean breeze with my best friend and a cold one by my side.

Now...to find a good beach read. Besides the latest People or InStyle. Something funny and wonderful or mysterious and quirky with the capacity to sweep me away.

Any suggestions?