Classic Movies for Beginners, Part 1

Homer left a very sweet comment on the purse blog about me looking like Holly Golightly (from Breakfast at Tiffany's), which I considered the highest of compliments.  And it sparked a conversation with my friend Shelly about classic movies.  She said she hadn't seen many and I offered to mentor her...a fun proposition for both of us. 

She asked for a list!
Big mistake, Shelly, very big mistake...

Here's my beginner's list:

• Breakfast at Tiffany's
• How to Marry a Millionare
• Pillow Talk
• An Affair to Remember (This should be at the top of the list, really...)
• Casablanca
• Sabrina (the original, NOT the remake)
• Thoroughly Modern Millie (Just for the sheer fun of it!  A lesser known Julie Andrews movie...)
• Young at Heart (Frank Sinatra/Doris Day...*sigh*)
• Houseboat
• The Quiet Man
•  African Queen
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• The Sons of Katie Elder
• Arsenic and Old Lace
• Gone With The Wind (Although, Scarlett in the BOOK is not the same as Scarlett in this movie!)

What would you add to the list?
Have you seen most of these movies?

Lil and Will

You saw a little bit of my bum calves in the post about Sue, but this time they get the spotlight....

If you've been reading the Chronicles for awhile, you know that all my bums are named with flower names.  I can't remember, really, why I set this as a parameter for names except that I was very botanically inclined a few years ago and probably had flower brain.  It's worked great, except the bull calves tend to get sort of odd names because there aren't a lot of masculine sounding flower names.  Last year, Cosmo...this year, Sweet William.

He has SUCH a bully-boy head!  And do you see his pink nose?  What a sad story...
The reason he's a bum is that his mom, during one of the terrible snow storms right after he was born, froze two of her teats off.  Of course, it was very, very painful for her and besides that, rendered her with less ability to sustain Will.  We brought him in after realizing he was just going to starve if he stayed with her.

Now, one of the hardest things...for me, anyway....was that she really did want her baby.  When we went out and loaded him in the Honda, she was so distressed.  She ran from calf to calf, looking for him.  Even typing this, I'm crying, because she didn't understand, you know?  Even though I knew we HAD to, my mama heart hurt for her. 

And it turns out that Sweet William's nose froze in that same storm.  So a couple of days ago, when I was feeding him, the end of it...the skin....came off as he was bumping around looking for more bottle.  It's getting better, but you know how very tender the new skin is and it hurts him, I can tell, when he feeds.  But he's a sweet natured little thing...so grateful for the food....that he heartily empties the bottle and I tell him what a brave baby he is.  (He doesn't care.  He just wants more.  But I feel better.)

So that's Sweet William's story. He's a love.

My father-in-law wants very much to graft him on another cow, but I really think it's a little late.

Perhaps I'm saying that because I adore him.

And then, there's Lily....

Oh, my.

What a little firecracker!

Miss Lily has a less dramatic story, but no less sad, in a way.

She was a twin.  The cow had two heifer calves and liked the other one better.  In fact, didn't like Lily at all.

I can't imagine it!  She's lovely!  All long legs and bright eyes and perky ears...and a "look at ME" attitude!

Lily charmed me, immediately, because she was going to have it her way, right away.  No shilly-shally, no dilly-dally. 

 Also, to the dismay of my father-in-law, we bonded very quickly.  He did try to graft her to another cow, but when she'd hear me talking, walking to the house, there'd be a frantic "Maaaaaaaahhhh!", and that was a bit off-putting for the cow. 

I've been reminded, over and over this spring, that bums are worth $350 right now.  Yes, I know. 

They could be sold and not messed with, twice or three times a day.  Yes. I know that, too.

They're taking up space in the barn and we'll have to move them here to my house which will be a hassle.  Yes, I know that as well. 

Could YOU sell these two?

*As a post script....here are my helpers, in the morning.  Both of them are less than impressed with the whole process and would vote "SALE!" if given the choice.  Fortunately, they have no such privilege...

True Confession #322

I missed the 80's. 

I don't MISS the 80's; I MISSED them.

And I don't know how, because I really should've at least noticed they were happening, being 9-17 years of age at the time.  One would think a little bit of the culture would've penetrated my life, but I'm starting to realize that MY 1980s were not my peers' 1980s.  A fact that has been pointed out and lamented by at least two of my friends, Alice and L.M. of the U. 

Apparently, it was a fun time, with great music and movies, and to an extent, fashion.
(I'm skeptical about the fashion.  Example below...)

 

Conversations with one of them about what I missed generally goes a little bit like this:

L: Do you remember the movie, "Breakfast Club" where Emilio Esteves said...(fill in the blank, here)

M: I didn't see that movie!  What was it about?

L: (Stunned silence, then recovering...) You had to have seen that movie.  EVERYONE saw that movie.  Even my mom.  You just forgot. 

M: No, I KNOW I didn't see that movie. I've heard of it, though....

L: What year did you graduate?

M: 1989...now what's so great about the movie?

L: (Emphatically) You HAVE to watch it.  I'm not going to tell you, but you HAVE to watch it. It's been on TBS for 15 years...you HAD to have seen it!

M: We don't have t.v.  Do you think it would be on NetFlix?

L: I'm sure it is. HOW can you NOT have seen The Breakfast Club?

M: I missed the 80's. 

I missed most of the music.  While other kids my age were listening to Warrant and Whitesnake, I was listening to the soundtrack of the musical Phantom of the Opera and classic Amy Grant.  I was exposed to the music, because of school dances and stereos blasting in the dorm, but I sure didn't listen to it on purpose.

I missed a LOT of the movies.  For one thing, to see a newly released movie, us Jordan kids had to drive 82 miles to Miles City.  Didn't happen a lot for me, because I had jobs in high school and was involved in extra-curricular stuff on the weekends.  I saw Karate Kid, Footloose and The Man From Snowy River...those count, right? 

I completely...COMPLETELY....missed the fashion boat.  Not that I'm sad about that, but I missed it big time.  Fashion trends are about 5-8 years behind, in this area, and I was probably about 2 more years behind.  I never got my bangs big, never ended up wearing leg warmers, never bought the clunky, cool baubles, never really figured out the leggings/tunic with a skinny belt look.  I was pathetically out of step with styles. 

The good news is that everything old is new again!  The styles are back, the music is retro and coolish, the movies are all nostalgic for my peer group, so they're out on DVDs and cheap. So I'm trying to play catch up, a little. 

I'm listening to 80's cheesy music, when I can stand it. It's funny how dramatic the lyrics are!  "I'd LIE for you, I'd DIE for you..."  Oh, please...!  But it's fun, in an overdone sort of way.

I'm watching movies that Alice and L.M. of the U. recommend. Sometimes.  I'm trying!  In between my British PBS Masterpiece series and Marilyn Monroe flicks, I try to get a little Pretty Woman or Lucas.  It's challenging.  And sort of work, to be honest with you.  But I hope to be able to carry on a conversation about some of those movies without causing heart failure for my friends at my lack of "culture".

I draw the line at recreating and wearing 1980's fashion.  I just cannot go there, and I really think none of you should either.  I beg of you not to wear leggings and tunics, implore you to stay away from big, permed hair....and DON'T, for the luvva Mike, put a comb in your back pocket!  Banana clips...yikes!

So, now you know.
Isn't that sad?  A whole decade....ppppffffttt!

She's my first Jew...

Not everyone finds this as hilarious as we do....

But I laugh everytime I think of this! 

Sue and I have been writing back and forth, asking questions about each other's lives because we live on different planets, really.

One time, after asking a particularly dumb question (I'm sure) about being Jewish, I told her she was my first Jew and she cheerfully said I was her first rancher.  I said, "We should get tshirts!"

And so she did.

I love it! And we both laughed!

And that's how we started Sue's visit....crazy t-shirts, t-bone steaks, blueberry pie, and Red Sox gifts.

That's right.

We've not had a baseball team in this family, being completely underexposed to that sport, but NOW we're part of Red Sox Nation! 

Witness the gear, on the family:

Mags is holding the team mascot, Wallie.

The kids wore their tshirts to bed, even!  And Angus has not taken the cap off in three days...

We picked Maggie up in Cohagen, so Sue could see the little school and meet Maggie's teacher.

Then we went back to the ranch and fed my bum calves, Lily and Sweet William.

(All my bums get flower names, so we thought Lil and Will would be fun this year.)

It's mucky, ucky around the corrals and calves tend to be quite slobbery, especially when they're hungry, so Sue got to wear my very glamorous covies and Muck boots. 

Sue fed Will, because he's gentler on the food source.  Lily will almost take you down for the bottle and shows no mercy when you run out of milk.  More on those two, later...

 

Here's Lil, looking to rough up someone for more food...

 Brand spanking new calf on the other side of the barn...

We went home after that and checked email, watched Red Sox youtubes, watched Mags dress up in costume after costume, talked about life and so forth.

When the Farmer got home, Sue asked if she could see his guns.

After he picked his jaw up off the floor (we're usually telling him to put his guns AWAY), he started hauling firearms out for show-n-tell! 

First time she ever shot a gun!  I think she's hooked....

It's a fair trade: Sue started the Red Sox obsession, we gave her gun fever. 

 A little souvenir from Eastern Montana...

We tried to send home kittens, but she seemed to think she'd have a hard time getting them on the plane.

Excuses, excuses...

And the next day, we went out for a while to tag calves and look at the cows.

It was such a good visit!

I wish I'd been able to make it to Sue's book reading and signing, but the Farmer had EMT testing so I stayed to "help" Vern with the cows.

(I think I may be more of a hindrance, but even bad help is better than no help, right?)

If you have the opportunity to read

You can read a synopsis at Nebraska Press.

It's a true story about the Smith Mine disaster in Bearcreek, MT and every time I read it, I see something new.  Two coffee cups up! (The thumbs have been done...)