the glory days are returning...

All that is gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost;
the old that is strong does not wither,
deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
a light from the shadows shall spring;
renenwed shall be blade that was broken,
the crownless again shall be king.

—J.R.R. Tolkien

Remember those three glorious Christmas seasons, when on one beautiful day, a week or two before the holiday you stood in line at a movie theater for a ridiculously long period of time, after getting there earlier that day to actually purchase tickets for yourself and ten or twenty of your closest friends, to ensure that the moment you had been waiting for, in some cases for about 365 days, was actually going to happen?

I do. Those three years when the December release date rolled around and the new Lord Of The Rings movie finally arrived in our eager and expectant lives were glorious, and even to this day, every time I turn the November page on the calendar, I feel a pang of sadness that those glory days are over.

It's not to say that I don't still enjoy the movies. Since the movies were released on DVD, I have spent more than a few weekends with one foot firmly planted in Middle Earth. But there is something special about the first time you see a movie, even if you've already read the book. The mystery of seeing someone else's vision of what you've both read brought to life, how it compares to your own, and takes on a life of its own is a beautiful thing. Regrettably, you can only see something for the first time once. Unless, of course, you can arrange for a bout of amnesia, which, having never attempted it, I probably wouldn't recommend.

So, before you actually begin to consider self-induced amnesia, let me make your day by telling you that in 610 days, on December 19, 2012, the glory is returning...



If you haven't yet read The Hobbit, don't worry, you've got a bit of time.

Gratitude & freedom... [#79-90}

Yesterday at PORTICO we had a movie screening of Freedom Fighter, the story of Rev. Majed El Shafie, himself once tortured for his Christian faith in Egypt, now the president and founder of One Free World International, fighting for those persecuted for their faith all over the world.

Here is a clip from the movie...



It's far too easy to live in religious freedom and think else everyone shares the same freedoms that we do. This moving film is designed to move those of us with all the freedom in the world to speak out for those who do not.

One way to get involved is to join the One Million Voices campaign. The way I see it, I have paid so very little for my own freedom, how could I not expend my energy and resources on behalf of those who have not been so blessed?

* * * * *

...and the gratitude list continues...

79. friends who push me to my dreams even when I doubt yourself.

80. a job that I love.

81. coffee. Starbucks. enough said.

82. going to sleep on Friday night and not turning the alarm on.

83. delightful little Italian pastries.

84. Rosamunde Pilcher's 'Winters Solstice' and beginning it again for at least the 24th time.

85. the balance of accomplishing things I didn't expect to and nothing I wanted to.

86. a strong, well-timed message I needed to hear.

87. summer roasted vegetables on a cold day.

88. walking into Starbucks and being greeted by my favorite baristas, who already know what I want.

89. curling up in my cozy bed with my Kobo in my hand, and Charlotte Martin's Piano Trees in my ears.

90. the simple, yet under-appreciated fact that by living in Canada, I have the gift and freedom of worshiping my God freely and without fear.

favorite things

it's that time of the week again, when i get to share some of my favorite things in the world with you.

Emma DVD
even though i have only received this little gem in the mail today, i already know that i can count it among my favorite of things. this version of Jane Austen's Emma aired on PBS last month, but not here in Canada. so i patiently waited for it to come online. after all, even last year's Lost In Austen showed up online eventually, keeping me from a long and {self-induced} painful wait.

but alas, only the first two of the episodes showed up online. and there are four! how is a girl to live through that kind of disappointment?!

well, fear not, my friends, i will not have to live through said disappointment, thanks to my good friends at Amazon.com. so, if you wonder what i'll be doing this weekend...

the music of Matthew Mayfield
iTunes tells me that the first time i bought one of Matthew Mayfield's songs was in early october of last year. given the extent to which i love his music, not to mention the fact that i cannot go a day without listening to him {Lives Entwined is playing on iTunes as i type}, it feels like i have been loving his music for much longer.

i love, love, love his lyrics and his music. can i say more than that? except maybe that my favorites of his songs, at least today, are As Long As You're Not Leaving, Maybe Next Christmas, and the previously mentioned, Lives Entwined. but since it changes every day, you never know which will be my favorites tomorrow. since there isn't a bad one in the bunch, it doesn't even really matter!

learning
i absolutely love to learn new things. take on new challenges. right now i am learning {or re-learning} french, a new computer program, how to navigate New York City, and how to not let HTML code make me want to pull my hair out of my head.

if i had to choose between continuing to learn or continuing to walk, i would definitely turn in my feet. a life where i am not constantly improving and growing is unimaginable to me.

* * * * *

once again, these are a few of my favorite things... i always walk away from these posts with the song of that title from The Sound of Music. whatever you're doing, i hope you can hear it too!

happy weekend!

sigh...

yes, i always miss paris. it is true. but there are days when the homesickness is stronger than others.

on those days, movies like paris, je t'aime get me through.

this is one of my favorite scenes...

bliss

i went to see Julie & Julia with L. tonight, and all i can say, is that it was pure bliss. how could it be otherwise, the heady combination of paris, cooking and blogging?!

this afternoon, i predicted to someone that at the end of the movie, i would walk out wanting to cook, and L. would want to blog... so it ended up with me being the one who wanted to to both.

i love baking, but cooking intimidates me. french cooking, in particular, scares me silly. for the life of me, i cannot think of a good reason why this is so. after all, i am french. perhaps one day i will break down and actually buy this cookbook...

one thing i do admire about both women, however, is their tenacity, not only in finding what they wanted to do with their lives, but doggedly doing it, regardless of how much opposition {snooty french women/de-boning a duck/discouragement/disgusting messes} they encountered.

if you haven't yet seen it, and you're in the mood to simply be happy {and hungry}, i highly recommend it. the paris scenery alone is heavenly. i may have sighed, "i am homesick," more than once during the movie.



bon appetit!

sitting in the dark

i don't do it near often enough, but i really do love going to see movies in the theatre. there's something about the combination of sitting in the dark, the smell of movie theatre popcorn, and bigger than life screen & sound that makes me almost giddy when i am fortunate enough to get there.

it's been a while since i've been to the theatre, but if i were to go right now, this would be the one:

The Visitor

it may be a bit early in the year, but after tonight, i am fairly certain that i've found my favorite movie of 2009*.

erynne, alicia & i had wanted to watch rachel getting married, as an oscar weekend version of our semi-regular movie nights. but, alas, it was not out yet, so we had to go with something else. 'something else' turned out to be the visitor, a movie i had heard about first from a kindling's muse podcast from 2008's sundance festival, so, since nothing else especially appealed, we went with that.

in my estimation, it was brilliance. it was a perfect reminder that regardless of our current situation, if we are open and willing, there are connections and community to be found, even in the most unlikely of places. a simple common interest can be the beginning of a friendship that could change your life forever, if you are open and paying attention.

we all need reminders like the visitor. we need to remember to keep our eyes open.

*viewed in 2009