Thursday Thirteen #205

 THIRTEEN POPULAR COLD REMEDIES

Like everyone else in my office, I have a cold. And I'm completely preoccupied by it. So here are the thirteen most popular items in the "Cold, Allergy, Sinus & Flu" aisle of the online shopping service, Peapod.

1) Conventional cough drops (Halls, Ricola, Luden's)

2) Vicks Vapo-Rub

3) Vicks NyQuil

4) CareOne Saline Nasal Spray

5) Zyrtec 24-Hour Allergy Relief

6) Coricidin Cold & Flu Tablets

7) Coldeeze homeopathic cough drops

8) Vicks DayQuil

9) Mucinex Expectorant

10) Afrin Nasal Spray

11) Allegra 24-Hour Allergy Relief

12) Robitussin Cold and Cough Syrup

13) Breathe Right Nasal Strips

I took Zycam at the beginning of my cold and, while it certainly did a number on my gut, I believe it has lessened the severity of the cold. And now I'm taking #8, Vicks DayQuil.

What about you? What do you take when you have a cold? 

For more about the Thursday 13,

or to play along yourself, click here.

I want Wednesday

I want this cold to be over! I'm tired of being tired. And my brain is so fuzzy.

Happy birthday to that old hip-shaking King Creole

Elvis would be 78 today. I love this song, especially the way he sails on the last note.

Trying not to go there

I really hate how much space my older sister has in my head. It occurs to me that, by only paying $1,000 for my mother's funeral and not her fair share, she has sacrificed her long game -- which is to make me do what she wants. I am not a wealthy woman -- not by any stretch -- but I could repay her what she has shelled out to date* without much difficulty. So she really has no leverage. When she says she "expects to see real receipts, not post-its," I realize she has no recourse if I don't provide them. (Of course I will, because I am a grown up and am trying mightily to take the high road.) She has no cudgel any more.

So why did I let her ruin my shower this morning? I can't even remember which oldies I heard on the radio! When I hear her voice in my head, I must dismiss it. Change the channel in my head. Pet a cat. Think about a movie. Listen to the Lads. Cover my ears and sing "Camptown Ladies."

When this is over, I won't have to have anything more to do with her. So, to borrow from Bill Murray in Caddyshack, "I got that going for me, which is nice."

* But I didn't. Thank you to SnarkyPants and Vivian for the advice. It was wise and I took it.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Why couldn't I have been an only child?

My kid sister suspects the estate sale coordinator she hired has walked off with some of my mother's more valuable pieces before this weekend's sale. Well, what does she expect me to do about it? He wasn't my choice,* I've never met him, and that house was so full of stuff, I have no idea what was there and what wasn't. Oh yeah, and I don't care. This was never going to be a massive money maker for us anyway. I thought it would be neat if we could have simply said, "Get all the stuff out and give us $500." But this is the path we're on.

Then there's my bitch of an older sister. Remember, she is not involved in this -- not in terms of money, except for $1,000, nor in terms of time. Yet she seems to think I'm willfully mismanaging everything and has relayed to me, through my kid sister, that she insists on "real receipts, not post-it notes" for everything. Oh, PUH-LEEZ! There is no fortune. At the end of the day, we'll probably just break even. She's just trying to insert herself into the process and give herself the illusion of control. I'm reimbursing her for her princely sum of $1,000 today, out of my own pocket, hoping to stave off any battles going forward. But it's hard to know how to pacify a crazy person.

I had a dream the other night that my mother came back from the dead, for just a few hours. I had so many questions for her -- not about the afterlife, but about our relationship and what she thought of the service we had for her. Then, even in my dream, I toyed with asking her to sign a check so we could get the money out of her checking account. In the dream scenario I stopped myself because I didn't want to waste our short time together on money. But that's how much I hate this process! It's even permeating my dreams.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net


*She could have hired the woman my oldest friend used to empty her house prior to moving cross country. I would have preferred that woman because we know what her services are and had a credible reference. But my sister didn't like her and thought she wasn't worth the extra expense. I let my sister make the choice and here we are.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: 40 of The Most Random Questions Meme, Part One 

1) What side of the heart do you draw first? Right. (What a neat question! I do always draw it the same way and never gave it a moment's thought.)

2) Can you dive without plugging your nose? Yes

3) What color is your razor? Pink

4) What is your blood-type? AB Positive.

5) Who would you want to be tied to for 24 hours? My best friend. He has a very calming effect on me. Anyone else I think I'd want to kill.

6) What is a rumor someone has spread about you? It seems I'm forever sleeping with this or that guy at work. Although now that I'm old, I suspect that will stop. But then what will they say about me? Hmmm ... never married, has cats, maybe I'll transition from office slut to rumor mill lesbian.

7) How do you feel about carrots? They are a lucrative crop on Farmville 2.

 

8) How many chairs at the dining room table? Four. But you can only sit on two. One is covered in coats and another with Christmas presents. The woman who runs this place is a slob and really should put her coats and gifts away!

9) Which is the best Spice Girl? Ginger Spice, because she's the one who left.

10) Do you know what time it is? Indeed I do. Way too early. I have a cold and my head is all stopped up so my sleep is fitful. M'lady shall return to her bedchamber upon completion of this meme.

11) Do you know all the words to the Fresh Prince Theme Song? Nope. But I do know all the words to the Friends theme and will share that instead: "So no one told you life was gonna be this way/your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA/It's like you're always stuck in second gear/It hasn't been your week, your month, or even your year/But I'll be there for you, when the rain starts to fall/I'll be there for you, like I've been there before/I'll be there for you, cause you're there for me, too." You're welcome.

12) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator? I have been stuck in an elevator. I waited patiently for someone to let us out. I rang the bell (which wasn't necessary, because they track the elevators anyway) and was out in less than 10 minutes. Really not that great a story. Sorry. Want to hear the "Friends" theme again?


13) What’s your favorite kind of gum? Big Red

14) All’s fair in love and war? Yes

15) Do you have a crush on anyone? Yes

16) Do you know how to use some words correctly, but not know the meaning? I don't understand the question. However there are words that I can use correctly in prose but not conversation because I'm not 100% sure how to pronounce them. (Specifically "hackneyed" and "oeuvre")

17) Do you like to sleep? Right now I wish I could

18) Do you know which US states don’t use Daylight Savings time? I know Indiana finally got on the bandwagon a few years ago. I thought they were the last hold outs.


19) Do you know the words to the song Total Eclipse of the Heart? These questions have a definite retro vibe this morning! Fortunately I'm old and am up to the task: "Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling apart/There's nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart ..." Was there a prize involved?

20) Do you want a bright yellow ‘06 mustang? No, but thank you for asking.

Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Brand New Me

And here she is. (I love Dusty.)

 

1) It's a brand new year! Do you have any resolutions for 2013? To save a little money by brown bagging it more this year.

2) Dusty Springfield sang of feeling "brand new." What leaves you feeling refreshed and/or rejuvenated? A shower and lots of shampoo.

3) Dusty's given name was Mary Catherine. If you could give yourself a brand new first name, what would it be? I don't know why, but I see myself as a "Julie."

4) Actor Billy Bob Thornton has dismissed antiques, saying, "I'm creeped out by old stuff." Do you ever shop at estate sales, yard sales or second-hand stores? Or do you want everything brand new? I've become very fond of used books. I like the musty smell and wondering who all has held and enjoyed them before they came to me. I really should get to the library more, rather than purchasing. Maybe that can be another 2013 resolution.

5)  Are you sad to see the holiday decorations slowly disappear until next year? Or do you think they should come down on January 2? I think they should come down quick. There's something a little depressing about carols and mistletoe and holly once the new year rolls around. I confess there's still a Santa on my front doorknob. I keep forgetting to take it down because it's on the other side of the door. 

6) Do you like the picture on your photo ID? My work ID is fine. My driver's license pic is hideous.

7) Crazy Sam shudders at the very thought of a snake. Which is your least favorite member of the Animal Kingdom? I am both fascinated and repelled by gators and crocs. I have tremendous respect for their jaws and teeth, and can't stop staring into those unblinking eyes.

8) What's the most recent magazine you flipped through? Entertainment Weekly came yesterday and I checked out the early Oscar predictions.

9) Do you have nice handwriting? Yes. It's very feminine and actually not that different from the cyber one I use at the end of my posts.

 

Shouldn't have looked

The big estate sale at my mother's house is next Saturday, and so they were supposed to begin promoting it this morning. I checked to see if the ads were up because, well, I'm the executor and a "responsible adult" and that's what I'm supposed to do. But it was hard.

There were my Monkees albums* and my mother's commemorative Kennedy magazines and all those photo frames! My niece's baby picture is still in one of them. I also recognized a lot of her clothes, a large carved cat from Thailand that my uncle had brought home after he left the service back in the 1960s and the tools Grandpa left to my dad.

I should have just checked to see that the ad was up. I didn't have to click through all 113 photos. But it was like probing a cavity with my tongue. I just had to do it. But I must resist doing it again. It's so much more positive to focus on moving forward.

*I thought I took those! Oh well, they're worth more to me for sale at my mom's than they would among all the scratched vinyl records in boxes in my closet.

Reflections of a new Bond Girl

Last month I say my first-ever Bond film, Skyfall, and was bowled over. I conferred with friends who are diehard Bond fans before deciding which other installments I need to see. The advice I have received was consistent:

•  Avoid the Roger Moore Bond movies
•  Feel free to skip the Timothy Dalton Bond movies (no one even mentions poor Lazenby)
•  Remember that the quality of the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies is spotty
•  Don't miss Daniel Craig as Bond in Casino Royale

And, most of all, embrace the fact Sean Connery is the REAL James Bond.

So over the Christmas holiday I treated myself to Goldeneye with Brosnan/Bond and Dr. No, the original Bond movie with the original (and I'm repeatedly told, REAL) Connery/Bond.

I enjoyed Goldeneye. It was more playful than Skyfall, but that was OK because Brosnan has less depth but more humor (though substantially less cool) than Daniel Craig.

I'm sorry to report that I really didn't like Dr. No at all. In fact, I was bored. It was hopelessly dated and I felt no real suspense.

I feel like a failure as a Bond Girl.

Breakfast for lunch and dinner

I'm coming down with a cold and it's manifesting itself in a ravenous desire for breakfast foods. I had a bowl of oatmeal and a trio of sausage links for dinner last night and scrambled eggs and minced ham for lunch today.

Hopefully lots of comforting breakfast foods, combined with Zicam and oj, will get me through this with minimal ick.

Thursday Thirteen #204

THIRTEEN FACTS ABOUT
ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S  
PSYCHO

I just saw Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins, and was fascinated and delighted. The movie centers on the making of the director's most successful and controversial film, Psycho. Here are thirteen facts about that dark, twisted masterpiece.

1) Hitchcock turned down directing Dr. No, the first James Bond film, to do Psycho instead. He said that instead of another espionage thriller, he wanted to make the first high-quality horror movie.

2) While Marian Crane is Janet Leigh's most famous role and earned her an Oscar nomination, she was not Hitchcock's first choice. He wanted Eva Marie Saint, the female lead in his last movie, North by Northwest.

3) Roddy McDowell wanted to play the part of Norman Bates, but Hitchcock preferred the more diffident, less famous Anthony Perkins for the role.

4) While he enjoyed working with Hitchcock, Anthony Perkins regretted taking the role, saying it typecast him.

5) John Gavin, who plays Marian's lover Sam, disappointed the director with his "wooden" performance.

6) Hitchcock had a small budget for Psycho and shot in black and white because it was cheaper and easier. For example, he was able to use chocolate syrup (Bosco, to be exact) instead of stickier, conventional fake blood in the famous shower scene.

7) The 3-minute shower sequence took nearly a week to shoot. Janet Leigh said that since it wasn't particularly difficult to perform, she was surprised by how terrifying it was to watch ... and once she saw the finished film, she always took baths.

8) The screeching score that accompanies that famous screen murders is performed exclusively by string instruments.

9) Made for just $800,000 in 1959, Psycho has earned nearly $600 million to date.

10) Popular as it turned out to be with audiences, Psycho was nearly not released. Paramount thought it was too grisly and Norman Bates' sexuality was too confusing for audiences.

11) Walt Disney was so offended by Psycho that he refused Hitchcock to shoot on location in Disneyland for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV show.

12) Hitchcock appears in all of his films, and in that regard, Psycho is no different. You can see him through the window of Marian's office near the beginning of the film. He's the one in the white fedora.

13) While shocking upon it's release in 1960, a rep from the MPAA has said unofficially that it would probably earn a PG-13 rating today. After all, there's no explicit nudity and we viewers never see a knife piercing skin.
 

For more about the Thursday 13,

or to play along yourself, click here.

Nothing is uncomplicated

Back from 4 nights in the Keys. It was bittersweet, for while my friend down there loves me very much and truly wanted to be there for me -- making this troubling first holiday season without my mother easier -- he is facing some severe financial problems of his own and it's coloring his outlook.

He just turned 50 last week. His 401k is empty. He has quit paying his credit card bills because he can't afford them and the mortgage payment. He would file for bankruptcy, except it costs $2000 -- and he doesn't have $2000.

Yes, he should have filed for bankruptcy a year ago before he raided his retirement fund for eating money and the roof over his head. But a year ago he truly believed his unemployment/underemployment was temporary and somehow, he would either get a big legal settlement from the college that illegally fired him or a lucrative new job from another school. His outlook was rosy to the point of delusion, and his disappointment gave way to serious depression, and he had to work this through in his own way and in his own time.

Anyway, he's now working full time at the local newspaper and he really enjoys it, even though it doesn't pay the salary he needs/hoped for. He's begun writing fiction and hopes to get his novel published this year (though since he shared that particular hope with me after a few drinks, I don't know how devoutly he cherishes that dream or understands how difficult it will be to realize). He has expanded his circle of friends and his relationship with his longtime lover is inspiringly solid.

It's just that sometimes his tenuous situation gets him down, and when that happens, he gets argumentative and gives in to his unfortunate "tinfoil beanie" tendency. One ridiculous highlight/lowlight was his pugnacious insistence that  -- get ready -- Abraham Lincoln was really gay and the only reason why Doris Kearns Goodwin didn't mention it is that "they" (how my friend hates/fears "them") would black ball her. When he gets like this, I just want to scream!

Which is why I was kinda grateful that Monday (New Year's Eve) he had to work and I was on my own. Had a lovely lunch (here's the view from my table), wandered around Duval Street and went to see the new Hitchcock movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. By the time we got dressed up for our delicious dinner at the Grand Cafe (below), I was rejuvenated and ready to ring in the New Year with my dear, very loving and slightly flawed friend.

I resolve

All this talk about "the fiscal cliff" and the possibility of another (!) Recession got me thinking about my finances in a more immediate way. Lately I have been concentrating so much more on what I'm saving and where (IRA, 401(k), annuities, bonds) for the long-term that I have ignored what I'm spending today. Also, the daunting bills attached to my mother's death have given me a "what the hell/I'm already in the hole" attitude.

But I'm almost out of "the hole" left by my mother's estate* and it's time to start behaving like a grown up. So one of my resolutions for 2013 is to bring my lunch to work at least once a week. I estimate that will save me approximately $500 over the year.

$500 in and of itself isn't that big a deal, I know. But it's a start. And it's daily reminder to keep an eye out for opportunities for austerity.

*Hopefully it will all be settled by the end of next month

I Want Wednesday

I want those bags -- the ones I left beside the front door -- to unpack themselves. It would be nice if the clothes contained therein would launder themselves, too.

Saturday 9

Posted 24 hours early because I'm on the road this weekend

Saturday 9: Same Old Lang Syne

1) This week's song is the tale of an accidental holiday encounter between former lovers. (Hear it here.) They sit in her car and spend hours catching up, then she gives him a chaste kiss and they never see one another again. Is there a past love who still has a special spot in your heart, despite the years or the miles since your relationship? Yes. 20 years ago I was in love with a very nice man -- it just didn't work out. I found out that over time, life has dealt him some tough blows. The woman who gave him a daughter refused to marry him, his father died, he married and the son he wanted so badly was born with autism, he and his wife divorced, his mother died ... I learned earlier this year that he has become very involved with his church and appears happy, which makes me happy. I loved him then, I love him still, and am glad he has found joy in his life.

 
2) This week's song includes a play on the traditional Scottish song, "Auld Lang Syne." Have you ever visited Scotland? No. 

 

3) Mother Winters has long told Sam that if she has a glass of water for every glass of champagne she drinks on New Year's Eve, she'll feel better on New Year's Day. Do you have a favorite hangover prevention tip or cure? Don't drink. 

 
4) Do you like champagne? In small doses. I'm more a mixed drink gal myself. 

 
6) This year at midnight, Crazy Sam will kiss the nose of her puppy, Chico. Will you be kissing anyone when the clock strikes 12? I'll be among friends, so I'm sure someone will peck my cheek.

 
6) The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy was the runaway publishing phenomenon of 2012. It was so successful that the publisher, Random House, was able to give its employees massive bonuses this year. Have you read it? Nope.

 
7) Year-end is a time for newspapers, magazines and websites to run lists. According to Askmen.com, Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games is the at the of the year's "Most Desirable Woman" list. People magazine has declared Channing Tatum "The Sexiest Man Alive -- 2012." Do either of these two set your pulse racing? If not, who is your celebrity crush? I'm old. My TV Boyfriend is 1986's Sexiest Man Alive.

 

8) Pasadena, California, is known for hosting the traditional Rose Parade. It begins at 8:00 AM on January 1, so the people who watch it live must be there very early. Does the thought of getting up and dressed to sit in the California sun, bright and early on New Year's morning appeal, to you? No. I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of early mornings or parades.

9) Sometimes aches and pains that aren't serious can still really hurt. For example, Sam just dropped a can of tomato paste on her foot and the little red mark it left is making her crazy! Are you suffering through a bump or bruise or cut right now? I burned the roof of my mouth. It made me nuts for about a week!

Happy New Year, Everyone!
Special shout outs everyone in the blogosphere who left me messages and sent good thoughts my way 
this holiday season. 
Very much appreciated!

Almost ready to go

I hate traveling. Especially to Key West, because I have to change planes to get there. I have compensated by completely overpacking. It gives me an illusion of control to believe I am now prepared for just about every eventuality.

Oh well, soon I'll be down south among my friends and that will make me feel better.

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #203

13 GOOD BOOKS

I read 26 books in 2012. Here are the 13 that I enjoyed the best, in order of my affection for them. All my major reading food groups are represented -- fiction, biography and mystery. The descriptions are from Barnes and Noble.

1) Never Let Me Go. Ishiguro. (novel, 2005) "A devastating novel of innocence, knowledge, and loss. As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together. Suspenseful, moving, beautifully atmospheric."

2) Capone. Bergreen.  (biography, 1996) "Delving beyond the Capone mythology. Bergreen finds a paradox: a coldblooded killer, thief, pimp, and racketeer who was also a devoted son and father; a self-styled Robin Hood who rose to the top of organized crime. Capone is a masterful portrait of an extraordinary time and of the one man who reigned supreme over it all, Al Capone."

3) Mona Lisa in Camelot. Davis.  (non-fiction, 2008) "In December 1962 Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa set sail from Paris to New York for what was arguably the riskiest art exhibition ever mounted. The fragile icon traveled like a head of state, with armed guards and military surveillance, in a temperature-controlled vault. Masterminding the entire show was First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. For eighty-eight charmed days, “Lisa Fever” swept the nation as nearly two million Americans attended exhibits in Washington, D.C. and New York. It was the greatest outpouring of appreciation for a single work of art in American history and the beginning of our nation’s love affair with the arts."

4) I Remember Nothing. Ephron. (memoir, 2011) "Filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true—and could have come only from Nora Ephron—I Remember Nothing is pure joy."

 
5) Mrs. Kennedy and Me. Hill. (memoir, 2012) "An enthralling, tragic, and intensely private portrayal of the captivating first lady from a man who knew her like no one else. When Secret Service agent Clint Hill was initially assigned to guard First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, he envisioned tea parties and gray-haired matrons. But as soon as he met her, he was swept up in the whirlwind of her beauty, her grace, her intelligence, her coy humor, her magnificent composure, and her extraordinary spirit. For four years, Clint was by Jackie’s side—through the early days of JFK’s presidency; the birth of sons John and Patrick and Patrick’s sudden death; Kennedy-family holidays; her intriguing meeting with Aristotle Onassis; and the president’s assassination and the dark days that followed. Filled with unforgettable details, startling revelations, and sparkling, intimate moments, this is the once-in-a-lifetime story of a man doing the most exciting job in the world, with a woman all the world loved, and the haunting tragedy that ended it all too soon."

6) Robert B. Parker's Lullaby. Adkins. (mystery, 2012) "When fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother’s murder, he’s not convinced by her claim that the wrong man was convicted. Mattie is street-smart, wise beyond her years, and now left to care for her younger siblings and an alcoholic grandmother in a dilapidated apartment in South Boston. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hits Spenser where he lives. As Spenser becomes more involved, he thinks that Mattie may be onto something after all. And he’s going to need the help of his friend Hawk to find peace for Mattie—a job that’s more dangerous than he ever thought."

 
7) Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney. Sounes. (biography, 2010) "The first exhaustive biography of the legendary musician; it tells Sir Paul’s whole life story, from childhood to present day, from working-class Liverpool beginnings to the cultural phenomenon that was The Beatles to his many solo incarnations. Fab is the definitive portrait of McCartney, a man of contradictions and a consummate musician far more ruthless, ambitious, and moody than his relaxed public image implies. Based on original research and more than two hundred new interviews, Fab also reveals for the first time the full story of his two marriages, romances, family feuds, phenomenal wealth, and complex relationships with his fellow ex-Beatles."

8) The Spellman Files. Lutz. (mystery, 2007) "Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors — but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman."

9) A Royal Duty. Burell. (memoir, 2003) "Now comes the long awaited book, A Royal Duty by Paul Burrell, the man in whom Diana the Princess of Wales confided on matters big and small. Paul, one of the Queen's personal footmen, met Diana during one of her first visits to Balmoral Castle. And while it may have been fate that brought them together, they shared a strong bond that endured to the end of her life. Burrell became Diana's confidant and his unique perspective casts new light on the Princess of Wales and the events that would shape her life and the lives of those around her."

10) Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero. Matthews. (biography, 2012) "Jack Kennedy said the reason people read biography is to answer that basic question. What was he like, this man whose own wife called him 'that elusive, unforgettable man'? In this New York Times bestselling biography, Chris Matthews answers that question with the verve of a novelist. As Matthews writes: 'I found a fighting prince never free of pain, never far from trouble, never accepting the world he found, never wanting to be his father’s son. He was a far greater hero than he ever wished us to know.'"

11) Bone Bed. Cornwell. (mystery, 2012) "A woman has vanished while digging a dinosaur bone bed in the remote wilderness of Canada. Somehow, the only evidence has made its way to the inbox of Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta, over two thousand miles away in Boston. She has no idea why. But as events unfold with alarming speed, Scarpetta begins to suspect that the paleontologist’s disappearance is connected to a series of crimes much closer to home: a gruesome murder, inexplicable tortures, and trace evidence from the last living creatures of the dinosaur age. When she turns to those around her, Scarpetta finds that the danger and suspicion have penetrated even her closest circles. Her niece Lucy speaks in riddles. Her lead investigator, Pete Marino, and FBI forensic psychologist and husband, Benton Wesley, have secrets of their own. Feeling alone and betrayed, Scarpetta is tempted by someone from her past as she tracks a killer both cunning and cruel."
 
12) Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America. Biskind. (biography, 2010) "In this compulsively readable and constantly surprising book, Peter Biskind writes the most intimate, revealing, and balanced biography ever of Hollywood legend Warren Beatty. Famously a playboy, Beatty has also been one of the most ambitious and successful stars in Hollywood. Several Beatty films have passed the test of time, from Bonnie and Clyde to Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, Reds (for which he won the best director Oscar), Bugsy, and Bulworth. Few filmgoers realize that along with Orson Welles, Beatty is the only person ever nominated for four Academy Awards for a single film—and unlike Welles, Beatty did it twice, with Heaven Can Wait and Reds."

13) Belong to Me. de Los Santos. (novel, 2011) "Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others to protect those we love.A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised herself when she was gripped by the sudden desire to head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she's made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt, the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she would find in suburbia. A saving grace soon appears in the form of Lake, and Cornelia develops an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman. As their individual stories unfold, the women become entangled in a web of trust, betrayal, love and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined, and that ultimately teaches them what it means for one human being to belong to another."

For more about the Thursday 13,

or to play along yourself, click here.

My considered opinion

Elf's Ed Asner is one of my favorite movie Santas. He has just the right mix of gravitas, wisdom and warmth. And, unlike Mr. Grant, I'm sure Santa doesn't drink and yell at people.

I want Wednesday

I want to be better disciplined! Of all the things I planned to do today, the only one I accomplished was getting to the dry cleaner! C'mon, Gal! There's relaxation and then there's sloth, and I think we know which category I'm sliding deeper into each day.

The artist vs. his art

As no less an expert on these things than Bruce Springsteen once told me, "You should pay attention to the art, not the artist." I know that the two are indeed separate. And yet, I'm always surprised when I respond to one of Mel Gibson's performances.

Ransom is on as I write this. It's a well-crafted piece of entertainment with two very good performances at its core: one by Gary Sinise as the kidnapper and the other from frantic father Mel Gibson. Mel is by turns vulnerable, angry, frightened, remorseful, proud, defiant, desperate ... Gibson has the showier part but he is still authentic.

If I was dropped onto Earth from another planet, I'd even find him attractive.

But then there's "I'm glad John Lennon is dead," and "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and "sugar tits" and threatening to kill the mother of his youngest child and homophobia. The rage inside this man is mighty and toxic.

Mel Gibson is an actor and a talented one. He has a compelling screen presence. His appalling personal life doesn't diminish the quality of his work, just my enjoyment of it. Every time I see him, the "fourth wall" crumbles and I'm reminded of the George Burns quote, "The secret of acting is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made."

Merry Christmas to me

My gift to myself was to rid myself of some of the clutter that's running rampant again. I shredded a ton of no longer necessary paper, enough to fill (a very light) garbage bag. It took an hour!

Next up -- the magazines. I see another trip to the recycling bin in my future.