Movie Night

 Song - Saturday Night at the Movies by the Drifters

 It has been about a year now that I informed my family that one of the things on my "bucket list" was to watch 100 of my favorite movies together.
I think it began as 50 movies and has grown to 100 plus!

So we decided that Sunday night would be our "Dinner and a Movie" evening.  I either cook something simple or we order pizza but most likely than not we grab some Chinese food!

Of course, a lot of changes have happened to my movie list over the year.  Most of the changes are from Mr. B who wants to get some "Real Guy" movies sprinkled in.  The boys weigh in too as to what they want to watch.  But I also think they have been pleasantly surprised by the diversity and interesting story lines.

So here is my list....anything missing?

Absence of Malice

 An Affair to Remember

African Queen

All About Eve

  Amadeus

Amelie  X

American Graffiti

The American President

 

A Beautiful Mind  X

The Bells of St. Mary’s

Billy Elliott  X

The Birds

 The Bishops Wife

 Bottle Shock  X

Breakfast at Tiffanys

Breakfast Club

 Breaking Away

Bringing Up Baby

Buena Vista Social Club

Bull Durham

Bus Stop

Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

Casablanca

Castaway

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Chariots of Fire

Chocolat  X

 Citizen Kane

Coal Miner's Daughter

 Dave  X

Dances with Wolves

Dirty Dancing

Driving Miss Daisy  X

Dr. Zhivago

The Elephant Man

ET

Father of the Bride

Fiddler on the Roof

Field of Dreams

The First Grader

Forrest Gump

Frankenstein

French Kiss  X

Fried Green Tomatoes

The Godfather

The Gods Must Be Crazy  X

Gone With the Wind

Good Will Hunting  X

The Graduate

The Grapes of Wrath

Grease

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

A Hard Day's Night

Harold & Maude

Harvey

His Girl Friday

The Holiday

The Horse Whisperer

Il Postino

Indiscreet

It's A Wonderful Life

Julie & Julia

Juno

 The King and I

The Kings Speech  X

Kinky Boots  X

Lawrence of Arabia

A League of their Own

Legends of the Fall

Life As A House  X

Life is Beautiful

Love Story

The Magnificent Seven

The Maltese Falcon

The Milagro Bean Field War

Miracle on 34th Street

The Miracle Worker

The Motorcycle Diaries  X

 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

My Big Fat Greek Wedding   X

My Cousin Vinny

My Fair Lady

My Favorite Wife

The Natural

Nell

North by Northwest

The Quiet Man

An Officer & a Gentleman

On Golden Pond  X

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Out of Africa

The Philadelphia Story

Pretty Woman

Psycho

Rain man

  Ray

      Rear Window

      


  Rebel Without A Cause

Remains of the Day

       A River Runs Through It

Rocky

Roman Holiday

Romeo & Juliette

Rosemary's Baby

       Sabrina

Same Time Next Year

Scent of a Woman

The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Shine

       Sideways X

       Sleepless in Seattle

       Some Like it Hot

       The Sound of Music

       Splendor in the Grass

       Stagecoach

       Steel Magnolia’s
 The Sting  X

 

 

      

       The Thin Man

       Titanic

       To Kill A Mockingbird

       Treasure of the Sierra Madre

       Twelve Angry Men

       You’ve Got Mail

       Waking Ned Devine  X

       When Harry Met Sally

       The Wizard of Oz

       Working Girl

The " X  " means we have seen it.  

Can you figure out my original list and the one's Mr. B added?

What would you add if this were your list?

 “Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.”  -- Ingrid Bergman

Simply Change It

Song - Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin

So most of you know that I picked out my One Little Word for this year and it was (yes - was) Simplify.

But what actually came "roaring" into my life every day of this new year has been "Spirit"!


The English word spirit (from Latin spiritus) means "breath".

Metaphysically it refers to consciousness or personality.  The nonphysical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.

Spirit....Soul....my energy.  Your energy. The world's energy!

As I struggled to hold on to "simplify", I began to realize that Spirit was pulling me on a path saying "pick me - pick me"...well, maybe it was more of a gentle nudge! 

I meditated and chose my daily work with more consciousness and what do you know, simplify began to come about naturally.

No, it is not an overnight deal, but an ongoing one.  Room by room, my car, my house, my garden, my art, my reading, my world, has all been slowly simplified. What do I love?  What do I really need?  What do my loved ones need?

I came across this detail of Bouguereau's Madonna and it spoke to me.

 

 To me.... so full of Grace

"Mindfulness is 

paying attention 

on purpose 

non-judgmentally 

in the present moment 

as if your life depended on it" 

 -- Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Wooden Bowl

Song - Old Man by Neil Young  **


Yesterday,  I purchased a wooden spoon to replace one that I broke on New Year's Eve.  (Someone was pounding a pan with the spoon a little too enthusiastically at midnight!)

When I was paying for the spoon, the cashier stared telling me how much she loved to cook and how she likes using wooden spoons.  She also said that it reminded her of a story about a grandfather and his wooden bowl. 

At home I "Googled" the story and enjoyed it so much, I thought I would share it with you.

The Wooden Bowl 

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law and four-year old grandson. The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table, but the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 

“We must do something about Grandfather, ” said the son. “I’ve had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.” Therefore, the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.

There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather’ s direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, “What are you making?”

Just as sweetly, the boy responded, “Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.” The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather’ s hand and gently led him back to the family table. 

For the remainder of his days, he ate every meal with the family. 

And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

"A monk told Joshu, “I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.”
Joshu asked, “Have you eaten your rice porridge?
The monk replied, “I have eaten.”
Joshu said, “Then you had better wash your bowl.”
At that moment the monk was enlightened. " --Zen story

**Song suggested by Mr. B!  Nice one!!!