Archives
Merry Christmas Update
1. So Merry Christmas. As promised, here are the photos of the dolls that lady donated to our Angel Group. They are really adorable and the photos don't do them justice. Because my camera has taken too many bounces off the concrete, nothing turns out sharp enough. Believe me, a camera is at the top of my Christmas list. Anyway, the clerks at City Hall told me yesterday that every time someone comes in, they offer more money to purchase the dolls. I think the clerks would like to buy them too. The donor said we couldn't sell them, so we will give them away.
2. Today I received a new modem from UPS. So hopefully tomorrow I will have DSL. If for no other reason than I'll have my husband off my back, I will be able to be on line while he's waiting for phone calls. It seems his only duty here is to wait for phone calls.
3. So here we are again. It seems that 2007 in this house, has been the year of the broken down junker. As Jon and I were picking up food the other day, his van over heated. With that, he cooked the transmission. I mean it runs, just not very well. We sat by the side of the road and waited for it to cool down, and then he poured water and coolant into the radiator. Then we limped home. We could only drive in reverse at first. Now being a good few blocks away from home, it was inconvenient. But then as the trans began to cool down, we got back some of the mobility we needed. Now it seems that when we try to drive with any weight in the van, it heaves and haws, and pauses before shifting into gear. None of us are comfortable enough with it to take it out of town. So Jon is buying a car from my brother, the same brother who sold us the Chrysler with Fred in it. I wonder.
4. Jon bought The Pursuit of Happyness. "You got to watch it," he said. "It's a great movie." Now Bill usually watches movies only when he comes across them on HBO. Well our cable is out in the bedroom. So I popped the movie in just before Bill came to bed.
Bill's thought about it? He said, "Every high school kid should be required to watch this movie."
I agree. I mean we've been down and out before. I knew exactly what Will Smith was trying to convey with each step. But to see someone fall so far down, and then snap back so spectacularly was an inspiration.
5. Jon called me from the middle of a Walmart in Lafayette, IN the other day. He was there waiting to be unloaded, and had nothing else to do but wander the store. So he began his Christmas shopping. He called from the movie section. "So, Mom," he said, "There's a lot of John Wayne movies on display. Do you have Quiet Man?"
"Yep."
"What else do you have? You have Hatari?"
"Just bought it."
"Rio Grand? Rio Bravo? The Fighting Seabees? The Hell Fighters? The Green Berrette? Wake of the Red Witch? Donavan's Reef?"
"Do they have They were Expendable or In Harm's Way?"
"No, but they have The Alamo."
So he bought me The Alamo. Now that was fun. Four AM this morning, we were both wide awake as it was nearly time to get Ed up. So I popped it in. The movie is good, although the acting was really bad. But then again, John Wayne never called himself an actor. We got caught up in the action almost immediately. When the alarm went off, we were watching Richard Widmark as Jim Bouie, telling his slave, Jethro, that he promised his wife he'd set Jethro free. He passed Jethro his freedom papers and I'm sorry, but Bill and I burst out laughing. I mean here is this poor man, Jethro that is, following his master into a no win situation, finally gets his freedom and for what? I mean the real payment for many long years of service would have been to free this poor guy after Bouie had paid for a week at a seaside resort. Not while waiting to get slaughtered at the Alamo. In the movie, Jethro died while trying to save Bouie's life.
John Wayne died in this movie, and that didn't happen much. He played Davie Crocket. I guess that was a better ending than what really happened. I read this not long ago, although I don't remember where. Davy Crocket was captured by Santa Ana's troops. They actually apologized to him at the time. "Sorry, Senior Crocket. We love you. We idolize you. But now we must torture you." I wonder how they felt about water boarding back then.
jmorancoyle at 4:35:00 PM CST Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
-
The dolls are beautiful. Did you install your DSL yet? You are going to love it, and will never go back!
Krissy :)
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink -
They are awesome......
Thank you for sharing that...
I love John Wayne movies, he is one of my favorites. -
I've been trying for a month to get AT&T to install DSL. Each time they come, my hopes are up and each time it's "Houston, we have a problem". Time to call John Wayne to circle the wagons, 'cause I'm getting angry. Nice pictures !
Jimmy -
The Pursuit of Happyness is one of the most inspiring movies I've ever seen. I love Will Smith.
That movie exhausted me because he ran all the way through it.
I hate that you are having car problems. It scares me to be stuck on the side of the road.I am at that invisible age. When you are hot and young, guys stop to help. . When really old ladies break down, people stop to help out of pity. In between , you are invisible!
Marti
12/16/07 6:31 PM
http://journals.aol.com/rdaut