Summer Cleaning

I want to read more, listen more, and watch more. I also have become a doctor follower and you know those guys, they like tests and stuff.

Therefore, I am narrowing my rss following if I a) am on your email list b) I follow you on twitter, c) I follow you an facebook, d)goodreads. All others will remain on the list.

Please don't let your feeling be hurt! If I follow all, there is much repeating and I am going mad trying to read all sites and still have room for other things. I really do not know how people who follow thousands of people on all  sites do it!

Movie Review: For Colored Girls

A new premium channel came to the line up with a sampling of what they were going to offer. One of the movies I selected was Tylor Perry's For Colored Girls.

Parts of it sounded like a Greek chorus. All of it was poignantly powerful.

The casting was perfect and all the women were believable. I've known, heard or read similar stories of women of different ethnicities but this is the best of the lot.

I don't think I could read the book, if there is one, as I know if I did it would depict even more than my heart could handle.

So why am I recommending this movie to you?

If I could give out Oscars, each of these women would get one for best actress. As would Tylor Perry. As would the writer. I would recommend this to aspirering actors, writers, and directors, people who like to watch great movies/stories that may make you hit you hard. Who like strong acting. People who want to leave a movie with their minds and hearts imprinted, as mine is right now.

For Colored Girls is for girls/women of all colors, races, and creeds as we are all parts of the rainbow of the sisterhood.

Book Review: By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


While reviewing what I should read next, I realized I never read or reviewed this book because it never arrived. Feeling most embarrassed, I contacted Mr. Kaplan to explain why I had never written the review. Nice man that he is, he asked if I still wanted to read it. Silly man. To save us both time, I suggested he send me an electric copy as I have both Nook and Kindle loaded on my Mac. Within 24 hours it was on my computer and ready for reading!

Less than 36 hours later, it was finished (who needs sleep when you have a good book!)

"Good book"...so inadequate a phrase to describe this book! Time: just before Christopher Columbus sets off to the new world. Place: Spain during the riegn of Queen Isobel and King Ferdinand. Subject: The early beginnings of the Spanish Inquisition and its effects on the Muslims and Jews (both converted and unconverted) and maybe some answers to "why".

The historical value of By Fire, By Water was tremendous as this was an area of my knowledge base filled only by movies. Again I had my computer set up so I could quickly check facts and gain a bit more information.

There is such a reality to the characters (both real and imaginary)! I had no difficulty moving from on character's point of view to the other.

While lots of questions arose as I read, at its completion I found myself comparing those times to times of today. What answers did I come up with? We'll discuss that after you've read By Fire, By Water and come to your own conclusions first.

Now this may seem trivial to others but I must give the author koodos for giving me translations when writing dipped into another language! That is one of those knit picking things that has driven me nuts for puppies years!

Mitchell James Kaplan, I must thank you for giving me the chance to read and review your novel! It's now one of my "but have you read this one!" list. I know it has been out for a while and can only hope this small review reignites interest! You took a chance that I might be the one person who didn't like it and would say so.

PS I went and searched for this in my blog and could not find it...sorry for the delay...so rush back to GoodReads and copied it out so I could post it here!

Update on Mommy

She fought the cancer with everything within her and the results of her last tests were there were no cancer cells anywhere to be found! That was the grand news!

The sad but good news was she got pneumonia less than a week later which took her away in 3 days.

What's good about that!??

She did not want to live so long that she had to live in a nursing home. Her mind was clear up to the last moment of life. My most wonderful niece-in-law took up some whiskey so they could all have a last toast...her own hail and fairwell. Well, my mother decided that one toast was not enough so whenever any came in the room, she toasted them (no matter how many times they came in). And that, my friends was the good news...she left in good spirits...still full of love and laughter!

Yes, I miss her a lot but I have such a boatload of memories!

So if you are sipping some wine or beer or other beverage, give her a toast and she will send you a smile of thanks.