RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS MOVIE WEEKEND: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Do I have a movie for you today! I know some of you saw it and loved it because you mentioned it on your blogs. It's the outstanding Silver Linings Playbook (2012, Rated R, available on DVD).

Doctors discover that Pat Solatano, Jr. (Bradley Cooper) has undiagnosed bipolar disorder when he nearly beats to death a man having an affair with his wife, Nikki. Sentenced to spend a minimum of eight months in a mental institution, Pat's time is up, but doctors think he should stay put. Instead, Pat convinces his mother, Dolores (Jacki Weaver), to check him out and take him to stay in his parents' home.

Pat thinks he can get back his old job as a substitute teacher and reunite with Nikki by using magical thinking to find the silver lining in everything. However, we learn quickly that Pat is not stable. The song played for the first dance at his wedding sends him into a frenzy. His first night at home, he doesn't sleep, instead scanning a book, becoming irritated with it, and throwing it through a window.

His father, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), has problems of his own. Because of OCD, he must have the remote controls for his television laid out in a certain way. He's lost his job and become a bookie. He angrily nags Pat Jr. to watch football with him, insisting that Pat's presence will affect the outcome of the games.

But then Pat Jr. meets a young widow who demands his help with a project. She's Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), and she has plenty of problems of her own. Gradually, their relationship changes their lives.

I love Silver Linings Playbook. It's sad and it's funny and it's uplifting. It's well written, well shot, and the acting is great. It was nominated for a whole slew of Academy Awards, and Jennifer Lawrence took home the Best Actress statue. I also think it's important for audiences to see that plenty of regular people have mental illnesses, and they are treatable illnesses. As a country, as a society, we need to reduce the stigma associated with mental problems. I'll tell you right now that Silver Linings Playbook has The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval.

I have some problems with this movie, however. The characters are stereotypes. Pat Sr. has OCD and I suspect also has undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Pat Jr. is the classic bipolar disorder patient who thinks he doesn't need medication. Dolores is the enabler. Tiffany is the troubled woman with a heart of gold.

SPOILER ALERT REGARDING THE NEXT PARAGRAPH:


But the stereotypes don't bother me too much because Silver Linings Playbook provides a glimpse of what it's like to live with someone who has a mental illness. I love a happy ending, but I'm concerned with the "love can save everyone" plot point. Viewers might say, Aw, this is so sweet, and won't notice everything that actually goes into helping Pat Jr. improve. Pat Sr. also seems better by the end of the movie, simply because one gambling deal went well with Pat Jr.'s help. Dolores's behavior seems transformed into well-designed motherly love because Tiffany's pursuit of Pat was a "random" act of kindness engineered by Dolores.


END OF SPOILER ALERT:

Although it's rated R, I think you can allow teens about age 14 and older to watch Silver Linings Playbook with you, as long as you discuss it afterwards.

And now, I wish you a beautiful weekend filled with peace and not too much house and yard work. Spending time with the people you love and doing what you can to improve the state of the world, pursuing healthy passions – well, you already know living a life filled with acts of kindness is more important than a spotless kitchen floor.

Many thanks to my Middle Child Elisa at The Crazy Life of a Writing Mom for setting up this week's blogfest. I've read so many good posts, and hope to read more.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS AND THE HURRICANE

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

I remain in random acts of kindness mode for the blogfest, but I hope that when this week ends, that kindness and gratitude will remain a permanent part of my blog.

Today I want to tell you about random acts of kindness involving My Darling Hurricane.

When she was in high school, I started working at the nursing home. She had never spent any time around elderly people. I don't think she'd ever been inside a nursing home. She'd done volunteer work, but it was at an animal shelter and at her prep school.

However, when I asked her to volunteer at the nursing home by bringing in her dog for visits, she agreed immediately and enjoyed the response to Emma the Labradoodle tremendously.

But then I asked her to volunteer by actually assisting me. She couldn't perform patient care, but she could fetch supplies and clean up messes. Again, The Hurricane agreed and was of such service to me that I was able to provide better care to patients.

One evening she went to work with me, and Anne, who had dementia and cried a great deal, was in the hallway in her wheelchair. Anne was so miserable. I don't think she really knew where she was or how in the heck she had gotten there.

But when Anne spied The Hurricane, her face broke out in a smile. I remember you, Anne said. I had you in class.

Without missing a beat, The Hurricane smiled and replied, You were my favorite teacher.

Anne beamed. She was absolutely radiant.

I was never more proud of The Hurricane, who was then a mere Storm Cloud. God gave The Hurricane the gift of a quick response that would make Anne happy. So many kids would have mumbled and whispered to Mom, What's she talking about?

From then on, every time Anne saw The Hurricane, her tears ceased, and peace surrounded her. Anne never again mentioned being a teacher, but she knew The Hurricane carried kindness.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

(Note: Anne was never a teacher. Perhaps she taught Sunday School at a church and remembered it on that one occasion.)

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS BLOGFEST: HOW I ACQUIRED MY MIDDLE CHILD

Thanks to Elisa at The Crazy Life of a Writing Mom, this week many of us are writing posts that celebrate random acts of kindness that have been bestowed on us.

So I've been thinking and pondering, pondering and ruminating, ruminating and cogitating. What would I write about on Monday, the most important day of the blogfest? Elisa will provide links to today's posts for everyone who signed up for the blogfest. Later, she'll use these posts so her company, Wayman Publishing, can put out an anthology filled with stories of all the love and kindness we've experienced, and the money earned by the anthology will go to charity.

Naturally, I want today's post to be extra special. But I have a problem. I don't really believe in randomness.

Nope, not what I believe.

I believe everything happens for a reason. If we don't get in God's way, then if something is meant to be, it will be. And sometimes it will be even when we do get in His way.

So, pardon me, but I don't actually believe in random acts of kindness. I think these random acts happen for a reason, and the proof is in my middle child. I know she has a mom – a very good mom – but she was destined to become my child.

I don't know if I followed her first, or if she followed me first; but somehow we found each other. I remember that her blog said her name was Elisabeth, but I noticed in the comments that many people called her "Elisa." I was very surprised. Elisa was my Norwegian grandmother's name. I had never met anyone else named Elisa.

I became an avid reader of Elisa's blog, and she caught me by surprise again because she often said how funny my posts were. I was going through my "Lola" stage then, and could be a bit pornographic at times. Eventually, we got to know each other well enough that I wrote a post that was an open letter to Elisa and her then-neighbor Melynda, who were involved in a prank war with Elisa's brother, Shane. It's the only post I've ever written that made ME laugh out loud.

Our relationship became closer and closer. Eventually, we started emailing each other privately, and then talking on the telephone. I was honored when Elisa asked me to edit one of her memoirs, Homeless In Hawaii, 

Elisa opened up new worlds to me by asking me to write for anthologies published by Wayman, asking me to edit, talking to me about her family and her business. All of a sudden I was no longer the lonely recently divorced lady I had been. I was Elisa's friend!

But then one day I mentioned that Favorite Young Man (my son) was 32. Elisa said, Oh! He's older than I am. I'm 29!

You're exactly the right age to be my middle child, I told her, because The Hurricane is 25.

Soon I was referring to her as Middle Child and signing my comments on her blog as "Your Mother From Another Planet."

One day I was worried about something, fearful of something that I can't reveal here. Elisa emailed me, Oh, Janie, don't worry. You're family!

What an act of kindness – to be accepted as a family member by someone I've never met in person. It's part of the miracle of our blogging world that so many of us can become such close friends although we live in different parts of the country, or even different parts of the world.

But the act of kindness I most want to celebrate today occurred last summer. August 21st is always a difficult day for me. It's my no-longer-a-wedding anniversary. I told Elisa in an email why I was sad.

The phone rang. It was Elisa, a little breathless and excited. She said, Janie, you don't have to be sad ever again on August 21st. We'll turn it into the anniversary of the day we adopted each other!

So this summer on August 21st, I won't be morose and crying to my dogs. I'll be celebrating the new and wonderful family I've acquired.

I have more good news, too. I hope to buy a plane ticket soon. This summer, I'll spend a few days with my middle child and her husband and my grandchildren.

Elisa and I often talk about the fact that our relationship was meant to be. We also know a third blogger we consider to be Elisa's grandmother, so I sent this woman a Mother's Day card, because she must be MY mom.

Elisa has changed my life with "random" acts of kindness, and now I look forward to every day.

We'll meet at last!
(image stolen from Elisa's blog)

MOVIE WEEKEND: THE IMPOSSIBLE

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Today I present for your consideration The Impossible (2012, Rated PG-13, available on DVD).

Henry (Ewan McGregor) and Maria (Naomi Watts) and their three young sons are spending the Christmas holidays at a resort in Thailand in 2004. They awake on Christmas Day to open gifts and then head out to the pool to play. Suddenly, the wind begins to blow, they hear a roar, and the tsunami hits.

Henry and the two younger boys are together, while Maria, who is badly injured, is swept away with their oldest son. If Maria survives, how will they ever be reunited?

The Impossible is frighteningly real. I felt caught up in every minute of the film. The director didn't use a computerized wave for the tsunami. Instead, he had a wave expert design a method for bringing in the water so it would look like an actual tsunami. They built a scale model of the resort that would be destroyed by the wave, so they had only one chance to get it right.

And these characters, based on a real family, had only one chance to survive.

Although this movie is rated PG-13, I would be wary of showing it to young teens. I think it might give them nightmares. If you're sensitive, it might give you nightmares. The characters face the fear of separation from one another, the danger of Maria's injuries, and the journey to obtain help, travelling past bodies and debris. I can't even imagine what a task it was to make this movie, but it gave me at least the tiniest inkling of what it was like to be there when the tsunami occurred.

It's really quite harrowing. I grant The Impossible The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval.

I don't want you to think that every minute of the movie is misery. After Maria is hospitalized, she insists that her son do something to be of assistance to others. So he goes around gathering names from people and manages to reunite a father and son. Maria and her son also rescue a little boy.

In the midst of devastation are many quiet tales of heroism and kindness, just as there have been in Oklahoma.

I wish you a lovely weekend, and may God bless you on Memorial Day. Please remember those who have given their lives to keep us safe.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

BOOK NOOK: LIFE HAPPENS

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

We so seldom write real letters these days. We dash off quick emails, or even worse, we text someone while we're in the middle of doing a million other things that simply must be done right that minute.

But there's such a joy in receiving a real letter–a letter that tells a personal story, a letter that helps you know the writer better, a letter reminding you that the writer really is your friend. A letter from a friend has a certain intimacy that an email, nah, it's just not there.

Life Happens: Enjoy the Ride by Rick Watson is a compilation of columns he's written for his local newspaper in Alabama. But as I read each one, I felt as if I had received a letter from Rick written just for me.

And every single letter made me happy because the letters provide me with a record of the happenings in the life of a close friend.

I've interviewed Rick the past two days (for Part I click HERE and for Part II click HERE), and in the interview he said his favorite column in the book is "A Family of Restless Spirits." I can see why that's his choice. It's so beautifully written. It starts like this:

This week I've spent time at Davis Cemetery, where my folks are buried. Decoration is the second Sunday in June, and it takes a while to get the old cemetery in shape.

It's a peaceful place most of the time. My mom, dad and brothers are buried at the top of the hill, close to the service road that encircles the graveyard. I was there one evening this week, sitting on the tailgate of my truck, giving them updates about what's happening in my life.

And that's exactly what Rick does in his columns. He gives us updates on his life. He doesn't rant and rave about politics or how much he hates this or that. He enjoys gardening, and he loves going fishing.

And he's quite often very funny. Like the time he and his wife Jilda checked into a hotel and the young man carrying their bags thought that Rick was Jilda's dad:

I heard him say, "I see you brought your dad with you." That would have been OK with me if he'd been trying to score some points with Jilda, but he was serious.

Jilda smiled as she looked back over her shoulder at me. When the bellhop looked back at me, I blazed him with a look that probably would have caused second degree burns on his face and neck had he been a step closer. 

Once he unloaded the bags he lingered for a tip. I thought to myself, we'll find cures for cancer, heart disease, and stupidity before I give you a tip, sonny boy. Of course he probably could have taken early retirement with the tip Jilda gave him.

Rick doesn't go for the big guffaws. He's relaxed and understated. Life Happens is a great book to read at bedtime so you fall asleep knowing that God is in His Heaven and all's right with the world.

Life Happens by Rick Watson has The Janie Junebug Highest Seal of Approval. You can purchase it from Amazon at  http://www.amazon.com/Life-Happens-Holler-Scholar-Volume/dp/0615677738.

I also recommend following Rick's blog, Life 101.

I have one more thing I want to say about Rick. Not too long ago I asked a favor of him. He didn't ask why. He didn't hesitate. He emailed back with "Sure thing, girlfren."

That's the kind of person Rick Watson is.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

AUTHOR AUTHOR: RELAXING RICK WATSON PART II

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Today we continue our interview with Rick Watson, who blogs over at Life 101. His latest book, a compilation of his newspaper columns called Life Happens: Enjoy the Ride is available from amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Life-Happens-Holler-Scholar-Volume/dp/0615677738.

And now, heeeeere's Rick:

Q. I know you are multi-talented -- singer/songwriter/guitarist, writer, and now becoming a master gardener. Do you have additional interests?

A. Yes, I’m interested in therapeutic spanking, and fly fishing, though I normally don’t do these together. Actually one of the challenges I face is that I’m interested in a lot of things. But I try to focus on writing and music because I can do these from anywhere.  My wife Jilda and I’ve been married 39 years, and we’ve always played music together. I played guitar for her when she entered the high school beauty contest in 1969. She sang Gentle on my Mind. We’ve played in Ireland and at coffee houses and festivals across the south. Music is part of who we are.

I think this fish is actually smiling because Rick
is the person who caught him.

Q. If you had to give up all of your activities except one, which one would you continue?

A. I will write and play music as long as I’m able. They are actually more connected than one might imagine.

Q. What gives you joy?

A. We have a lot of great friends and nothing makes me happier that to 

break bread together. We have a small songwriter think tank and we 

gather each month to eat, play the new songs we’ve written, and to 

provide support for each other. 

We have friends in their late 80s and friends in their twenties. We’re 

just a friendly couple.

Q. What's your favorite column in Life Happens? 

A. If I had to say one, it would be “A Family of Restless Spirits.”

Q. What do you want the world to know about Rick and Jilda Watson and Life Happens?

We meet people all the time that say to us, “I feel like I know you both.” That’s because when I write in my Blog and my columns, it’s almost like my journal. One could read back over the years of my blog and get a sense of what my life is about.

I know exactly what Rick means. I feel as if I know him from his blog, and now I know him even better because of Life Happens, which I'll review tomorrow.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

P.S. Therapeutic spanking, hmmmmm? I must mention that Rick inserted a smiley face after that comment which did not copy when I was cutting and pasting his answers.

AUTHOR AUTHOR: RELAXING RICK WATSON

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

This week our focus is on Rick Watson of the lovely blog, Life 101. His second book, Life Happens: Enjoy the Ride, is available at http://www.amazon.com/Life-Happens-Holler-Scholar-Volume/dp/0615677738.

Rick Watson, a gentleman if ever there was one

The synopsis from the back of his book reads as follows:

Life Happens, published by HomeFolk Media, is the second book from author Rick Watson. Watson is a freelance writer, columnist, and photographer. He and his wife Jilda are singer/songwriters who perform at coffeehouses, festivals, and other events throughout the South. 

And now I give you Mr. Rick Watson of Alabama.



Q. For the benefit of my readers who ever so foolishly might not follow your blog, will you please expound on your career as a writer and on the genesis of Life Happens?

A. If I’d known when I was younger that I would become a writer, I would have paid attention in English class.

I founded an alumni website for my high school alma mater in 2001, and I started scanning yearbooks and putting them on the site, but I also started writing stories about my memories of high school. I wrote stories about teachers, my friends, and events that happened during my high school years. To my surprise the site exploded with followers. I received a lot of encouragement about the stories I wrote.

Then in 2005, I got on Blogger with no real plans of how I would approach the writing. As it turns out, I got in a habit of writing daily. Some of my updates were long and some short.

In 2006 I decided to approach The Daily Mountain Eagle, our local newspaper and asked if I could write a weekly column. The editor was hesitant because apparently a lot of people wanted to write a column, but in his experience they burned out after a few months, and he was stuck with a slot to fill.

I told him I had a year’s worth of columns already written. I opened my briefcase and handed him about a half dozen to look over. He called the next day and said I had the job.

After two years of weekly columns in the Sunday Lifestyle section of the paper, I decided to publish a compilation of those columns. My first book was entitled Remembering Big. 

A few years later I published my second book Life Happens.




Q. What did you learn from the publication of your first book that helped you with the current book?

A. I learned the value of having a good editor. I found a lot of errors after printing my first book, so when I was putting together Life Happens, I had two professional editors.

Q. Your writing style is very laid back and folksy. Does that come naturally to you, or do you cultivate it? In other words, have you developed a persona as a writer, or do we get plain ole Rick Watson? I hope you're as nice as you seem to be!

A. I think the secret to writing is finding your voice. I struggled early on. I had good story ideas, but I wrote around them. I think writing every day is important because you learn what resonates with readers. Somewhere along the way I found my voice.The late Clarke Stallworth was a mentor that helped me find my way.

I don’t think I’ve developed a persona. What you see (read) is what you get.


Q. How do you promote your book?

A. The more I learn about book promotion, the more I realize I don’t know squat. I have a built in audience that reads my column each week so I have name and face recognition in Central Alabama. Each time I sign books or speak to organizations, I usually sell some books. 

Trying to expand my audience to readers outside my geographic area has been challenging.

I’ve done Kindle Free promotions, I’ve connected with reviewers in the Blogosphere, and I’m working Goodreads. I’ve sold some books, but I still haven’t connected with “my people.” These are people who like to laugh, cry, and say to themselves, “Dang, I’m glad that didn’t happen to me.” 

Q. Did you have an epiphany when you knew your writing was good and had an effect on people, or did it sneak up on you?

A. I know when I’m in the zone that what I’m writing is good. The main challenge when you write every day is coming up with something interesting to say. Many times I write about the mundane, and that’s OK, because it keeps me in the game. I’m the kind of person that if I didn’t write one day, it would be twice as easy to skip the next day too. So I always have my antennas up scanning for good ideas to write about, but I write even when ideas are scarce.

I, for one, and the many followers at Rick's blog and the folks who read his newspaper columns, are grateful that Rick doesn't skip a day of writing.

And I hope that the questions I ask our authors are helpful to those of you who are working on books, or who have written a book. You never know where you might find some inspiration and helpful information.

Tomorrow, Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell, more from Rick Watson.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug