Thanksgiving

This past weekend was American Thanksgiving when we normally pig out on turkey and all the trimmings. This family has a decided "let's do it our way" streak that was evident this weekend. I had 2 requests to substitute something for the turkey. Another is a vegetarian. The left over adults will eat anything (me included). So, this Thanksgiving we had prime rib roast and many side dishes. Everyone said it was a good meal. The company of (all) our children and our granddaughter is what made the meal good, really.
I am thankful for my family and extended families.

Fall & New Life

Fall is in the air, finally. This fall we are enjoying our new granddaughter. What a sense of joy we feel when we get to see her, which is about once a month. We're lucky. Her other grandparents live on the other side of the earth, so they don't get to see her in person so often. She is a happy baby and beautiful.

Ms. Lessing, the Laureate

"that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny."

Congratulations to Doris Lessing, Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Her reaction? "Oh Christ, I really couldn't care less." I could!

I first read Doris Lessing in the early 1970's while in college. I read The Golden Notebook. It is an amazing book, but a long read and difficult. I've read other books of hers over the years, unfortunately not all of them. Guess the others will go on my list, too. Here's a good article on Lessing and her legacy. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071029/kellum

Okay so let's read Jane Austen

We've seen both movies this summer "Becoming Jane" and "The Jane Austen Book Club". The first did not entice me to read her books; the second did. Yes, I admit I haven't read Jane Austen. And, yes, I'm THAT old. A year from now, I will have read them all. Six. TJABC was a nice movie, entertaining..... the book club meetings mirrored the book being discussed that night. The actors were, for the most part, competent. It was nice to see Amy Brennemen not just being "Amy Brennemen". Jimmy Smits is great, too. Worth seeing. Better yet, read the books. Six of them. Thank you.

Love love love

D and I went to see "Feast of Love" starting Morgan Freeman, Jane Alexander, Greg Kinnear and a host of other great actors. It is a complicated, touching look at love and all it's foibles. I like movies that have several layers of plot. With all of our abilities to multi-task that structure keeps my interest. And the characters have depth. There's a bit about the magical quality of love that is so sweet. ***

Oh I don't complain all the time

So, jeez, I start my blogging career with a whining post about Dayton restaurants? This is just to let you know I don't whine all the time. (uh, don't ask D, okay? ) I will post in the very near future about some positives.

Dining Out

We went to a movie on Saturday night at the Greene. Yup. We do go there now and then even though it's a weird place. After the movie we tried to find a place for a glass of wine and a bite to eat. Pub ... 1.5 hour wait. McCormick & Schmick's .. 40 minute wait and no smiles or invite to sit at the bar and wait. Okay, so maybe Flemings 1 hr wait but they were nice and invited us to sit at the bar. We had wine, then found a table in the bar area only to be left sitting with no follow up. We left after telling the manager about the unacceptable service. The bartender noticed and didn't charge us when D went to settle up before we left. So, one drink... still no bite to eat. Then we called the Pine Club... 1.5 hr wait. We decided to drive to Meadowlark, one of our favorite restaurants. Apparently it's other's favorite as well. 40 minute wait there. Since we weren't in the mood to wait, we pressed on. We ended up in a nearly empty Figlio. We ordered our food, then found it was pretty spicy. We rechecked the menu to make sure we hadn't overlooked "spicy", but it wasn't there. Not a good end to a lackluster evening. Hey.. the movie was great! More on that later