Going to bed with Redford

Oh! I love a man in uniform!

The cable channel Decades has been showing The Way We Were, off and on all day as a tribute to Redford on his (gulp!) 79th birthday. And so I will use my bedroom TV as a nightlight and watch TWWW yet again as I fall asleep.

This is the quintessential Redford/Sydney Pollack collaboration. He's the remote, WASP love object that he also played in his other films with Sydney -- This Property Is Condemned and Three Days of the Condor and Out of Africa -- and he's at his most gorgeous here. It's not my favorite Redford performance, but it is my favorite Redford movie.

And that's because, along with his yumminess, it's got Babs at her best. Noisy, dedicated, uncompromising, right (in her politics and commitment, if not her "style"). Streisand is a force of nature in The Way We Were.

But it's not her birthday, it's his. And so here's to ya, Redford. Happy birthday and thanks for all the dreams and fantasies.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 18

Today's Happy Cone goes to Leon. He's my new best friend. Actually, he's my new phone, my first smartphone.

I got this LG Leon because I had to. I switched from Sprint* to T-Mobile and needed a phone with a SIM card, so I couldn't use my erstwhile LG Rumor Reflex, which had a groovy slide QWERTY keyboard that I'll miss. But Leon gives me access to email, which I was paying for but not getting (long, techy and not interesting story), so it was time for Sprint and me to part company.

I had asked around to see which providers made switching easy, and discovered that no one changes providers because it's a bitch. I wish I had a happier story to share. The T-Mobile sales rep I dealt with at the store was very nice, but he made a one-letter error when keystroking my name into the computer so it took four phone calls and two store visits between Sunday afternoon to Tuesday evening to get my service successfully switched. (And maybe it's not ... haven't received the first bill, yet.)

But the phone is a fun toy and it made me happy to see how this blog looks on a little smartphone screen. Here's hoping I don't become one of those people who is always and forever looking down at her phone.

 *Credo, actually. They're a wonderful company that does a lot of good work, supporting progressive causes. They just didn't have an affordable plan that gave me the services I wanted.


What's that you say? What's the August Happiness Challenge?

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy chocolate cone. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.

August Happiness Challenge -- Day 17

Today's Happy Cone goes to luck. Intellectually, I don't believe in luck. But sometimes shit happens that reinforces my less mature, more pagan instincts. Like Monday and Tuesday, when I happened to pass safely through my front door just as big summer storms hit. And the way the oppressive heat wave and storms are predicted to be out of town just in time for my trip to Wrigley Field tomorrow night. If it's not luck, if it's not a cosmic, karmic reward from Mother Nature, what else could it be?

(Don't tell me. I just want to enjoy the delight/relief that comes from feeling lucky.)

What's that you say? What's the August Happiness Challenge?

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the happy chocolate cone. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.