Pool Safety

Please watch this important video about children and pool safety. I've discussed this with my daughter and will be forwarding this to her camp.

Annual Philadelphia Poets' Ethnic Voices

Annual Philadelphia Poets' Ethnic Voices

This will be my first public reading of my work. I'm still trying to decide what poems to select, since this is a multicultural event. Most of my work isn't related to my ethnicity, but to other influences.

If you're in town, please come and be part of my cheering section!

Let's Talk About S&TC (Addendum)

I gave everyone 2 weeks now to see the movie. We did the ritual that thousands of other women did across the country on opening night. My girlfriends and I left the kids with the fathers, dressed up in our favorite kid-unfriendly clothes and shoes, toting the cute handbags that were pushed aside for diaper bags. We watched the movie, had martinis and good food off a menu that did not serve chicken nuggets and fries.

So, definitely, the new Sex and The City movie was enjoyable, light and fun. However, I was disappointed. One of the things I loved about the series was the writing. It was smart, witty and concise. Within a half an hour, so much happens in a story. For example, the show starts with Samantha claiming she wants breast implants. By the end of the show she discovers she has cancer and is going for treatments.

This movie had potential. I think that's where the disappointment lies for many of us. Only Carrie and Miranda had full blown stories created for them. Their men had rich scenes that made them human. Samantha and Charlotte were supporting roles.

Let's take Charlotte's story. She adopted an Asian child who she is raising Jewish, we presume. Is the only thing in their life reading fairy tales and dressing up? Does she have no concerns or challenges being a new mother? How about showing that it's not perfect or she doesn't have the answers? Harry is pretty much a dork in this movie. I loved him when they met - he was full of fire! He's so watered down now.

As for Samantha's character, what exactly does she do all day? As a Hollywood agent, she should be taking on more clients, shouldn't she? Also, did she just drop him flat without an agent too? What about the cancer treatments? I thought she was becoming an advocate for breast cancer.

The last episode of the show was really well done and tied everything together so well. Kind of disappointing that 4-5 years later, Big and Carrie just now got to the marriage part and Samantha and Smith were also going nowhere. I felt bad for Smith and Carrie - both hanging around commitmentphobes for so long.

I'm one of the minority who wanted Carrie to go for the Russian. His maturity and romance was enticing. I was always less sympathetic to Big. If he wanted to be with her, he would've. Stop all this natak for ten years! As my friend always said, it only proved to women that if you wait around for a jerk long enough, he'll come around. Not exactly.

Another disappointment my suburban friends and I had watching this movie was the lack of NYC in it. "Where is Barney's!?" one of my friends bemoaned. We missed it.

As per the much celebrated fashion, it was incredible. The whole audience was sighing and swooning with each wedding gown Sarah Jessica wore. However, after giving Sarah Jessica Parker 81 outfits, they still had a lot to show off. So, let's throw in a Fashion Week and get real models. They used to say NYC was the 5th main character, but in this movie Vivienne Westwood became the 5th.

Judith Warner from the New York Times wrote this interesting blog tying the media attitudes towards Hillary Clinton with the modern roles in "Sex and the City."

Anyway, I'll probably watch this again because I love the characters as old friends. I was quite crushed when the series ended because I was losing them. I first turned it on when Miranda was expecting. I loved her openness about her feelings of pregnancy and motherhood. I loved her complaints about breastfeeding, instead of making it all a perfect and holy experience.

I will say that some lines were stuck in my head and still funny. "I put a bird in my head"

Addendum

Found one more interesting article in Newsweek talking about the vicious bashing by people who haven't seen it. I had a similar discussion with someone: "What's surprising is the lengths men go to push Carrie off her Manolos. "How much do you want to bet 'Sex and the City' drops 70 percent this weekend," said a guy colleague of mine, gleefully."

True, why do you even care?

The author Ramin Setoodeh brings up a good point about the role of women in the Hollywood:

Not just because they're usually sidelined as the blinking love interest (Gwyneth Paltrow in "Iron Man" or Liv Tyler in "The Incredible Hulk"). The blog "Women and Hollywood" features telling statistics: last year only five of the top 50 films of the year had major roles for women. Only 15 percent of directors, producers, writers and high-ranking staff are female. Thelma Adams, film critic for US Weekly, tells the site, "The point here is can women open movies? Meryl Streep can't. Jodie Foster can't. Julianne Moore can't. Julia Roberts can't." But Carrie? Yes she can.

Why Not?

I think the problem we have in our lives is we ask "Why?" too much -- Why do you want to do that? Why go through that trouble? Just leave it alone. We really should be asking "Why not?" - Why not? Let's give it a shot.

Called it!
Yep, we called it last March when we saw "In the Heights" on Broadway. Now they've won a Tony award for Best Musical. We told you it was good! We've seen the big shows and we knew this was different. Check out the acceptance speech for Best Score. Good luck getting $27 tickets like we did. (Doing a little dance here)

What I find most inspiring about this play is not on stage - it's the people and talent behind it. The story was born by young writer (Quiara Alegría Hudes) who wrote about a NYC neighborhood, close to the heart. With Miranda's lyrics and music, this was originally performed at Wesleyan University. They had something original, which was recognized as fresh.

So not only did they make it happen, they took it all the way! This is what happens when you ask "Why not?"

Occasional Quote

Just heard on a commercial for Laughing Cow cheese:

Have you laughed today?

Think about it.

Do it.