Five Things for Friday – What’s on My Mind?

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1. I have an odd relationship with reading. My parents and their families were diametrically opposed where reading was concerned. I have drifted in and out of periods of reading in my life. Right now, I’m in. My mom’s family (and my mom) were ALWAYS in.

2. Speaking of reading, I just started reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner. (Thanks to Tony and Margie from Back Roads and Other Stories for reminding me of this book.) It made me wonder how many Pulitzer Prize winning novels or other fiction pieces I have read. Not as many as I thought! Here’s a link if you care to see how many you have read. I will be very impressed if anyone has read them all! Pulitzer Prize Winners

3. When I was perusing newspaper articles last week, I discovered a recurring column which listed all the small rural communities and their use of the Bookmobile (did you check out books from the bookmobile?) Our little mountain community always had one of the highest numbers for books checked out and one of the lowest numbers for overdue books. The father of one of my oldest and dearest online friends drove a Bookmobile. She once sent me articles about him. That was sweet. I never knew a Bookmobile driver.

4. Iva Lou Wade is a character in Andriana Trigiani’s book Big Stone Gap. Iva Lou is the Bookmobile librarian/driver. What a great character! I love Trigiani’s character development. I am also very familiar with this very real community of Big Stone Gap as it is not far from where I grew up.

5. Speaking of Adrianna Trigiani, she was a very successful producer on both ‘The Cosby Show’ and ‘Different World’.  So talented.

That’s it for the five things running through my mind on this late Friday morning.

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What Are You Reading?

I have been reading BeetleyPete’s Blogger’s Books feature. He is kindly featuring the books written by fellow bloggers. What a kind gesture and a great source for new books us to consider. He is posting features daily.

Having just finished the book We Were Liars, I am looking for the next book I want to read. I have one book on hold at the library – The Nightingale – but the wait is several weeks out.

I often ask my friends on Facebook what they are reading every month or so. So many books never make the best seller lists. In the current environment, it is easy to overlook a great book. I also check out what my friends are reading on their Goodreads page.

Going to the bookstores and looking through books was one of our pre-Covid favorite pastimes. It was not unusual for us to hit the book stores several times a month. I have an affinity for old books, too, so finding a good used book store was always a pleasure. We are fortunate to have an exquisite bookstore in our town. The owner is so knowledgeable and generous with his expertise about books it is a pleasure to go there.

So, without further ado, I shall ask the question.

What are you reading right now. Please share!

30 Day Film Challenge / Day 30 – I Made It!

Here we are at Day 30. Sometime during the third week I thought I might not make the entire 30 days, but here we are! Many thanks to SandmanJazz for introducing this challenge and allowing others to play along. Thank you!

Today on the final day, the challenge is a film with a beautiful ending.

There are a number of films that could easily fit into this category but today I am choosing the 2000 film “Finding Forrester” starring Sean Connery and a relatively new actor at the time, Rob Brown, who played the role of Jamal Wallace rather convincingly. I enjoyed the character Terrell played by Busta Rhymes.

I love the ending of this movie. It has heart. And I am a sucker for a film with a lesson and a positive ending.

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I decided to take on this challenge for July after reading about it from SandmanJazz. Check out his blog and his entry for the thirtieth and final day of the challenge.

30 Day Film Challenge / Day 29

Today the challenge is a film that you did not want to end.

I could not think of many films that I felt should have gone on longer. There were a few I felt would have been good if a sequel had been planned.

The film I decided on was “True Lies” the 1994 film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It is a delightfully funny film and shows Jamie Lee Curtis at her best. I would love to see a sequel, especially with Jamie Lee years later. They could write Arnold out in some tragic spy scene and I would be okay with that.

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I decided to take on this challenge for July after reading about it from SandmanJazz. Check out his blog and his entry for the twenty-ninth day of the challenge. Maybe even join in!

Wednesday Writing – Friendship

I was inspired by Teagan’s Wednesday writing / photo prompt. I am a big fan of “Brother Love” and was intrigued that the prompt took her back to a familiar place. So, just as Teagan did, I closed my eyes to see what would come up for me.

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“Pinkie Swear?” Pearl stuck out her little finger and scrunched up her nose waiting for a response.
”Yes, yes, I promise.”
“Say it!”
“Pinkie Swear. Now are you happy?” Pearl was a fierce and demanding friend. The best of the lot. How could I do anything but agree?
So the deal was sealed. At 21, no matter where we were or what we were doing, we would get a tattoo. Not ‘a’ tattoo, ‘the’ tattoo. Two circles linked together with a delicate chain.
“No matter what we do or where we go, we will always be connected.”

All my friends told me about finding pennies, or seeing butterflies or cardinals that they knew were signs from loved ones who had crossed over. I hated that phrase. They died. They were gone. The coroner said Pearl died of ‘natural causes’. She just ‘slipped away’ in her sleep. How many 19 year olds die of natural causes? Pearl was dead. There were no signals from ‘beyond’. No butterflies, no cardinals, no shiny pennies. Just a hollow emptiness.

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My friends insisted we go out for my first ‘legal drink’ to celebrate my birthday renting a stretch limo for the occasion. As I stepped out of the limo, I saw the neon sign across the street. “This is the sign you’ve been looking for” A string of small shops lined the street below the sign. In the middle of them a tattoo parlor. There was Pearl, bright and beaming in the night. I had my sign.

“Come on you guys, I have something to do!” They thought I was crazy as I ran into the tattoo shop. I pulled out the old sketch I always carried in my wallet and laid it on the counter. I closed my eyes and whispered under my breath “Pinkie Swear”.

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Thank you, Teagan, for being my Wednesday muse. This was a welcome challenge.