she reads!

Two more books in the "finished" pile:

Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-something Who Learned to Knit After He Split by Laurie Perry

Here If You Need Me by Kate Baestrup

Requested at the library:

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

The Simple Home: the Luxury of Enough by Sarah Nettleton and Frank Martin

By the Bed:

The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson

In the purse (for reading while stuck in restaurants, while waiting in long lines, while at the doctor's office, etc):

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer

more movies

I took a break from watching movies after the film festival, but I'm getting back into the groove.

Hairworld: The Pursuit of Excellence - This quirky documentary from PBS provides an inside look at the "Hair Olympics," an intense competition pitting hundreds of hairstylists from more than 40 countries against one another in a string of timed tests to determine styling skill. Following Team U.S.A., filmmaker Mark Lewis explores all the highlights and bad hair days as the trainers, competitors and models prep rigorously for the 31st International HairWorld Championships in Moscow.

Thinking XXX - Adult film stars discuss their careers and celebrity in this behind-the-scenes look at the making of photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders's book XXX.  Along with footage of Greenfield-Sanders as he shoots the portraits for his revealing tome, the film also captures candid conversations about the industry with authors, artists and cultural experts.

Sound and Fury - examining the political and emotional turmoil that erupts between brothers over the cochlear implant that might allow their deaf children to hear. The ways in which a so-called miracle cure can divide as well as heal families and communities is the focus of Sound and Fury, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature

Small Town Gay Bar - homophobia is alive and well -- especially in the small towns of the Deep South. Focusing on the day-to-day struggles of two Mississippi gay bars and the grateful patrons who often travel hundreds of miles to find them, filmmaker Malcolm Ingram reveals a surprisingly close community that treats its residents like family members.

Trembling before G-d - homosexuality and religion -- are thrust together in this revealing documentary. Gay and lesbian Jews who have been cast off by their families and by religious figures are interviewed in major metropolitan areas across the globe. Even in societies where homosexuality is gaining acceptance, many of those interviewed still struggle with balancing an intolerant faith with their sexual orientation.

Desk Set - The mysterious man hanging about at the research department of a big TV network proves to be engineer Richard Sumner, who's been ordered to keep his real purpose secret: computerizing the office. Department head Bunny Watson, who knows everything, needs no computer to unmask Richard. The resulting battle of wits and witty dialogue pits Bunny's fear of losing her job against her dawning attraction to Richard.  <I LOVE KATHARINE HEPBURN.>

Serendipity - romantic comedy with John Cusack and Kate Beckensale that I can watch over and over

Miracle on 34th Street - It was Thanksgiving Day, so of course I had to watch.  And it was my favorite version: 1947 black/white.