Sunday Salon, February 26th, Oscars edition

Special birthday gifts!

Oscars Edition. As I type this Sunday Salon post I will include a few notes about the Oscars as I watch the show.

Weather: Rain. What more can I say?

Frog songs: It may still be winter but the frogs in the pond in our neighborhood think it is spring. Every evening when I am out with the dog I hear the frogs singing their love song and I know that spring is around the corner.

The Academy Awards Show is on TV right now. Usually we see very few of the movies which are up for Best Picture. But this year I've seen two of them and if either win, I will be very happy: La La Land or Hidden Figures. I haven't seen the others, though I've heard that this year the cop is full of greats movies. Fingers are crossed.

Tea for two: My daughter, Rita, took me out to the local tea shop for a belated birthday treat. I am so blessed by my daughters. For two hours she and I sat and talked and laughed and never ran out of anything to say. I love you, honey!

Making fun of Meryl Streep. Jimmy Kimmel is having fun with my favorite actress, pretending that she is a lackluster actress, just phoning in her performances. I love it when people allow themselves to be made fun of and can laugh at themselves. On that note I understand that President Trump will not be attending the annual  Corespondent's Dinner this year. I don't think this is a man who knows how to laugh at himself. What a shame.

Honor Society Induction, finally: This year everything associated with our induction ceremony was postponed because of snow. The first meeting about how to apply had to be postponed because we had a two-hour late schedule due to snowy roads. The induction ceremony had to be rescheduled because it fell on one of the three days we were completely off school for snow. This past Thursday, the rescheduled date, I woke up to discover it was...wait for it...snowing. Oh boy, not again! Fortunately, it was lovely to behold but didn't cause a school delay of any kind and the ceremony went off without a hitch, finally.

Best Costumes: Hey, I saw all the movies nominated in this category and the winner "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" won. What a wonderful movie. Gotta love it....way to go, JK Rowling! Another winner.

Book Clubs: It doesn't usually happen this way, but this past week both of my book clubs met on subsequent days. Tuesday SOTH met and discussed My Life in France by Julia Child. The book wasn't a club favorite but I was very inspired by Julia Child and her love of food and cooking. Wednesday RHS Ladies Club met and discussed Commonwealth by Ann Patchett. I liked the book a lot because I thought Patchett did a masterful job of pulling all the parts of the story together. Others in the club felt the book suffered in comparison to some of Patchett's other works.

Music: I love all the music on the Oscars. Justin Timberlake as the opening was so fun. The original song from "Moana," written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton). The artists are from New Zealand and the South Pacific. I love the multicultural elements! Now Sting is on deck. And soon, John Legend. Oh my, I love City of Stars! Will it win?

Book completed this week, just one:

• The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. A distressing look at the lives of men who were POWs in WWII, forced to work on the Death Railroad and the effects the war had on their lives afterwards. I am not sure I would recommend the book because it is so distressing but the writing is really brilliant.

Currently reading and on-deck books:

• Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. A memoir about love and life and finding one's way. 40% progress. Print.
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I just downloaded the audiobook onto my iPod. This is for book club in March. I'll start it tomorrow during my commute.
• If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. This book is on my desk in the back office of the library. I read it on my lunch if I don't have time to run downstairs and join the other teachers. Print.

Jimmy Kimmel rocks: He just welcomed regular people to the Oscars and gave them a tour then interviewed the little kid from Lion and held him up like he was the lion in Lion King. More candy, too!

Politics at the Oscars: So far I've heard comments about inclusion (not exclusion); no wall; honoring our friends from Latin America who pick our fruits and vegetables; The White Hats---the war in Syria need to end; jokes about Trump tweeting and about what happened in Sweden. "I was educated in public schools where the arts are appreciated and celebrated!" I'm sure there will be more.

Which actress inspired me as a kid? Since I'm not an actor this is probably a moot point but since the Oscars this year are focusing on INSPIRATION I thought you would probably want to know the answer to this question? I was enraptured by Julie Andrews as a kid. The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins just touched my imagination and held me in their spell. They still do. Thank you Julie Andrews! I still love you. Today my favorite actress is Meryl Streep, who else is there?

6 out of 60: I'm still forging ahead to reconnect with 60 friends/family members in this my 60th year. This week I had three "meetings/events". Thank you Rita, Sharon, and JoLeigh! I love you all and enjoyed catching up with you. (The wine and tea was good, too!)

Dinner: While I was idling in front of the TV, watching the Oscars and writing this blog post, Don made a delicious dinner of steak, potatoes, green beans, grilled onions, topped off with some Cab Sauv red wine. Yum. Spoiled brat! On that note, I should probably get up and help clean up the kitchen, don't you think? brb

City of Stars! Best original song.  Yippee!

In Memoriam: I always cry when they honor the actors who died during the past year.  I've been thinking a lot about death lately and oddly, the topic hasn't depressed me.  This week I attended the funeral for the husband of a colleague who was 40 years old when he died suddenly. Instead of a wretched, sad affair, it was a wonderful celebration of his life.

Funny: I love to listen to audiobooks, so this week I went to the web pages of two libraries I hold cards for to see if I could get in line for upcoming book club selections. Here is what I discovered...I guess I'll be waiting for months and months on some of these books:

1. Homegoing 10th out of 3 copies on one list; 14th out of 3 on the other. (I had to pay for an audbile.com download because this book is for next month.)
2. Dear Bob and Sue- neither library has a copy of it.
3. LaRose: 1st out of 3 copies on one list, 2nd out of 3 on the other (this should be available now, out of order, of course)
4. This is How It Always Is: 12th on 2 copies on one list, e-book not audiobook
5. A Man Called Ove: 48th out of 13 copies on one list; 75th out of 12 copies on the other. Ha!

I'm stalling.....We are getting to the good stuff. Best director, best actor, best actress...best picture. Which show will win?... LA LA LAND! Wait...what just happened? Moonlight won.