Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Monsieur Pivot's Questionnaire

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I have come to the dreary conclusion that I will never be a featured guest on Inside the Actor's Studio.

[Dream sequence:]

James Lipton: Ms. Weber has been nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and won the Academy Award for both best director and best adapted screenplay for the acclaimed film Hortense the Happy Pig . . .

[End dream sequence]

Thus I will have to use this space to proclaim my answers to Bernard Pivot's questionnaire that Lipton adapted for the show. If you're reading this, copy-and-paste the questions into the Comments section, and add your own answers! I'd love to read them.

So here we go:

What is your favorite word?
Roo (my husband's pet name for me)

What is your least favorite word?
Any word whose primary purpose is to hurt someone, such as a gender or racial epithet.

What turns you on?
A happy marriage.

What turns you off?
Bickering.

What sound or noise do you love?
The sound of a beagle when someone he loves comes through the door.

What sound or noise do you hate?
An animal in pain.

What is your favorite curse word?
None. Though I do like the expression of frustration from a Miss Marple novel: "That's a nonstarter, Murgatroyd!"

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Sole proprietor of a vast charitable fortune.

What profession would you not like to do?
Prostitute.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
All is forgiven.

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Washington Post, Nov. 4

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Keep an eye out for next Sunday's Post. Film critic Desson Thomson will have an article about crying in the theatre, which I think will include a quote from me.
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Thursday, October 25, 2007

Author Robert Harris

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My friend Debbie recommended Harris's book "Fatherland" to me some time ago, and I loved it. It's a police procedural set in an alt-history post-WWII world in which the Nazis won in Europe. I loved that it's plausible both as a police procedural and as a world; you really believe that this is what it could have been like.

Now I'm halfway through his novel "Enigma" set in Bletchley Park in WWII, and it is just as good. Apparently it was made into a movie in 2002 with Kate Winslet and other known names, and the reviews were mixed but pretty good overall; and yet I have no memory of this movie. Will have to Netflix.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Git yer Tivo on

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Friday Night Lights is back and as fantastic as last year. It's on Friday nights this season, 9:00 pm Eastern. 'S good, 's good . . . Tami struggles with a new baby and a long-distance husband, paraplegic ex-quarterback Jason Street is stronger than ever, and math-nerd / Christian-metalhead Landry gets some! Plus it's set in the flatlands of west Texas where my sister lives. Check it out . . . it's good viewing.
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Saturday, October 20, 2007

A Big Nothing

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I've got a big nothing to report. It's a Saturday afternoon, I'm staring out at the trees whose tops are blowing in the wind. I love this time of year . . . my absolute favorite. It's cool and invigorating outside, perfect for yard work, but then it feels cozy and warm inside, safe and homey.

We had a nice dinner with Maggie last night, looking over Italy pictures. Other than that, our weekend is open, which feels incredible. I still am not caught up on laundry, cleaning, organizing, and the open schedule feels like oxygen, space to breathe. Maybe this weekend I'll start back on my reading project. I'm up to the early Middle Ages and have to figure out what the heck the masterpieces of the early Middle Ages are.
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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Actual Dialogue Heard in Our Bed This Morning

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Jay: I read that Salman Rushdie's "Hortense the Happy Pig" won the Pulitzer this year.

Lynn: I hear it's a daring stab at neominimalism.

Jay: I hear it's about a happy pig.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

From James Baldwin

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"While the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell; it's the only light we've got in all this darkness."
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Monday, October 8, 2007

Italy: Venice

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Images of Venice here, the most amazing city. In one picture you can see the waiter wearing wellies because the piazza is flooded due to high water. In another you can see I took a picture of myself (with Jay in the background); this was in Piazza San Marco and I had actually started to cry because a picture of the piazza was in my grandparents' den in southern Maryland when we grew up. It made me think of them, how much I miss them, and how I've always associated St. Mark's Square with them. And now I was lucky enough to be there myself. At the end are some plane shots of the Alps on our way home.
















































Italy: San Marino

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On the way to Venice, the tour stopped at the tiny republic of San Marino. I thought this was more of a novelty stop, but it turned out to be very worthwhile. San Marino is a little village perched on a mountain top with spectacular views. At the end are a few shots as we got closer to Venice. The scenery reminded me a lot of the Eastern Shore---lowlands approaching an ocean.














Italy: Florence

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Here are some shots of our drive through Tuscany, our stop at Pisa, and Florence, mostly around the Duomo, Baptistry, and Campanile (including some shots from our walk up to the top of the campanile). I think the main square in Pisa, with the cathedral, baptistry, and tower, has got to be one of the most beautiful in Europe; and the way the tower juts out from the straight lines of the cathedral makes the whole thing look like a Frank Gehry building.