Some Movies I Loved

Over the last few months, I've been keeping track of all the movies that I've seen. Getting DVDs from the library makes it so easy!

There were some movies that weren't so great. One film was probably the worst that I had ever seen. *shudder* Truly horrible. At least in my opinion. It got some good reviews, but I just don't get it. That's almost two hours that I can't get back.

Anyway, the movie list that I'm keeping is getting far too long for one blog post, so I decided to focus on the good ones and break it into smaller pieces. 

Here are four movies that were everything that I want in a film. Truly remarkable. If you like foreign films, especially independent cinema, then I think that you'll enjoy them too. Check them out if you get the chance.

Broken Embraces
Exporting Raymond
Dreams of Dust 
When We Leave

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

*Updated 5/19/2013* Last night I watched the movie Samsara. Take a look here to see what I thought of it.

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Sweet + Savory: A Tasty Giveaway for All Aboard The Arc!

*Updated 5/21/2013* The contest is closed. Winners to be announced tomorrow.

Are you hungry to do some good? Well, here's an opportunity for you to feed your stomach and your heart.

As I've written recently, like last year, I'm raising funds for All Aboard The Arc! To sweeten my fundraising efforts, I want to give something to all of you who read this blog and have supported it for 7 years.

Also, I'd like to welcome new readers arriving everyday. With the support of two wonderful organizations, Greyston Bakery and Firehouse Subs, I have some treats in store for you.

I've written before about the good work and delicious brownies from Greyston Bakery. They make the brownies that go in Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Firehouse Subs is new to me, but I attended a blogger dinner recently at their Copley Square location and met co-founder Robin Sorensen, a former fire fighter. I will be writing up that post soon! I love their subs and their philanthropic mission helping first responders.

You are NOT required to make a donation in order to enter the giveaway. But it would certainly be nice. Before we get to the giveaway, let me tell you a bit more about All Aboard The Arc!

All Aboard The Arc is the annual fundraiser to benefit The Arc of Massachusetts, which serves men, women and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Here's a video from last year discussing the idea of self-advocacy. All Aboard The Arc! takes place this Saturday, May 18th, with a caravan of buses filled with riders leaving from Arc chapters all over Massachusetts and destined for the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.  

The event has a dual purpose: to raise awareness of The Arc’s all-important advocacy and service-delivery work and to raise $120,000 for the non-profit organization. I'm riding on one of the buses along with my parents and my brother and am asking for pledges of support for The Arc to help continue to fulfill its long-standing and worthy goals, including:

* helping children and adults with disabilities gain access to vital services, such as adequate housing, age-appropriate health care, employment opportunities and day habilitation programs;

* promoting as much independence as possible in the lives of individuals with disabilities and providing respite care for their families;

* preserving the rights of those served by The Arc by vigorously representing them in the halls of power on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill;

* raising public awareness of the abilities of people with disabilities; and

* removing forever all forms of discrimination that may deprive these valued human beings of their right to lives filled with dignity and respect.

With more than 700 national and local chapters, The Arc is the largest national community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism and acquired brain injury.

I formed my own team to raise money and my goal is small. Just $500.00. If I can raise $1,000.00, then I can cross #8 off my life list too! Of course even more would be better!

All funds that I raise go to the Brockton Area Arc (BAArc), where I am on the Board of Directors. If you decide to support my team and give a donation, it is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Also, please make sure to find out if your employer does company matching, which could double your donation.

BAArc has been a great resource for me, my parents and especially my brother. I'm three and a half years older than him and remember a specific time when we were kids. He was very young, not more than four or five years old when he had his first seizure. I was so scared and ran to tell my parents that something was wrong. He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. 

Ever since that day, I realized the seriousness of my brother's condition. We are both much older and he has overcome many obstacles. Life can be very difficult for him, but he takes it in stride and with a great sense of humor. 

My "little" brother, who is much taller than me now, also loves sports. All sports. He's a huge NASCAR fan! Baseball fan too. We were both born in Boston, but he's a hardcore Yankees fan. We’ve attended Yankees Red Sox games together and I made sure to wear my Red Sox hat to counter his Yankees hat. I still love him despite the Yankees thing! After all, when it really mattered, the Yankees showed much love for Boston.

Now for the giveaway! Again, no donation is required to enter.

GIVEAWAY 

The three (3) prizes below will be given away to three (3) separate winners.

~ $50.00 in Firehouse Subs gift cards

~ A custom gift box for you filled with Greyston Bakery brownies and whoopie pies

~ The Greyston Bakery Cookbook 

RULES

Three winners will be chosen. If you'd like to win, please let me know in the comments along with your location (city, state, country).

If you have a preference for one prize over the others, please let me know. However, you are not guaranteed to receive the preferred prize.

The contest starts today, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, and ends midnight EST, Monday, May 20, 2013.

This giveaway is open to everyone aged 18 and older in the United States and Canada.

No duplicate comments.

Social media sharing is welcomed and encouraged! If you share this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest, for each additional share, only one time each, you'll receive an additional chance to win. Just come back here and put the link to the share in the comments to let me know.

Three (3) winners will be selected via random draw and will be notified by email.

Please make sure that I have a working email address for you. After the winners are notified by email, they have 24 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner(s) will be selected.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, May 22nd. Best of luck everyone! 


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Sweet + Savory: A Tasty Giveaway for All Aboard The Arc!

Stamp Out Hunger ~ May 11, 2013

Today is Stamp Out Hunger! Did you know that 1 in 6 Americans are facing hunger? Or that nearly 6 million Americans are fed by food banks each week? Or that 1 in 7 Americans use SNAP (food stamps) benefits?

Those are frightening statistics and there is no need for them. There is more than enough food in this country for everyone.

If your postal carrier has not arrived yet today, there is still time to participate. Even if they have arrived, you can still go to your local post office and drop off a bag of food.

The day is still young and we all have a chance to do something good in a very easy, yet meaningful way. 

I almost missed my opportunity, but I saw a tweet and remembered getingt a flyer in the mail a few days ago. So I just put together a bag with non-perishable food items and put them out for the postal carrier. So easy! I put out container of coffee, canned pumpkin, beans, couscous, and a bottle of soda. Hopefully, someone can make a nice meal out of these things.

Are you going to help Stamp Out Hunger today?


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Stamp Out Hunger ~ May 11, 2013

Single Serving Orange Pecan Shortbread

It's been a while since I made blogged about a single serving dessert. I've been baking these behind the scenes, but without the fancy toppings.

This latest recipe was inspired by a recipe for Pistachio Shortbread in the current issue of Bon Appétit. I just saw the recipe today while reading the magazine on the train, so it was a last minute decision to blog it so soon. But I'm only blogging twice a week now and decided to fit in a recipe sooner rather than later.

I actually have pistachios in the house, but didn't feel like chopping them up and the pecans were already chopped. Also, I wanted to bake something quickly. Then I remembered my lovely single serving desserts. So I shrunk the recipe down and decided to use orange extract instead of vanilla. I baked the recipe twice actually. The picture below is the first attempt.

These were good, but they baked for too long and I had to cut off the burnt edges. I reduced the baking time the second time and used brown sugar instead of regular sugar. Also, I made three smaller shortbreads instead of two bigger ones. I have two left for breakfast! Oh, and I baked them in a toaster oven, so the baking time listed below might be shorter than what would be needed in a regular oven.

So here's the final recipe. I like them both ways. And you know I'm all about adapting, so I hope that you give these a try. And please do let me know how you put your own spin on them.

Single Serving Orange Pecan Shortbread

3 T flour
2 T chopped pecans
1.5 T sugar
1 T butter (softened)
1/4 tsp. orange extract
1/2 tsp. cold water
pinch of salt

Set aside cookie sheet and set oven to 350 degrees.

Combine ingredients in small bowl. Spoon out dough to make the number of shortbreads that you like.  Bake for about 10 minutes. Let cool. Eat and enjoy!


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Single Serving Orange Pecan Shortbread

Mondrian Style

Flickr photo by Defining The Capture

The old saying, "curiosity killed the cat" never sat right with me. I've always been curious. As a kid, I loved the Curious George books. Curiosity is how we learn. If anything, I've become more curious as I've gotten older. Curiosity is partly responsible for my blogging.

Curiosity is responsible for this post. I'm a huge art fan in general and especially love modern art. Back in March, I read about modern art manicures. One of the artists mentioned whose work was replicated as a manicure was Piet Mondrian or Mondriaan before he changed the spelling to have just one a. Could manicures invoke copyright issues? What about cakes? I wonder. But I digress. Sort of.

I liked the Mondrian designs, but didn't think much more about him, because other artists were included. A few weeks later, I saw a Mondrian Cake.

Well, you know me. Cake will get my attention every time. This video promotes the cookbook Modern Art Desserts that shows you how to bake a Mondrian Cake. Pretty sweet.

Soon after, I saw vintage Mondrian-style bathing suits. Okay. A manicure. Cake. Bathing suits. All Mondrian-style in the span of about six weeks. There seems to be a trend here.

Is what's old new again and Mondrian-style is back in full force?  Or am I just now noticing everything Mondrian that was there before and escaped my attention?

I'm not sure, but I'm suddenly very curious about Piet Mondrian, so I did some searching. I found these quotes below.

"The emotion of beauty is always obscured by the appearance of the object. Therefore, the object must be eliminated from the picture." 

"To approach the spiritual in art, one will make as little use as possible of reality, because reality is opposed to the spiritual."

The photograph above, which is just a reflection, shows the simple use of basic colors and lines to evoke an emotion. It feels very warm and joyful to me. There's not much there, but I definitely feel drawn to it. No pun intended. Well, maybe a little intended.

Many others are drawn to Mondrian's work as well. His influence spans centuries and seems to be growing.

A bike. Forget the Rubik's Cube. Look at the Mondrian Cube. A group Halloween costume. Even an art lesson plan for kids. And fashion. Especially fashion. This Mondrian-style Yves Saint Lauren dress is timeless. I would wear it in a heartbeat.

During my Mondrian research, I also learned about a bag. A very special bag. If you fall into my dream world and find one of these bags at a yard sale, snatch it and get it appraised toute de suite! Although In my dream world, I'd have to get one too!

From Christie's website, below is the scoop on the Mondrian-style bag.

"And then there are the lesser-known Hermès bags that don't have specific names, but which only these enthusiasts would recognise – ultra-rare bags like the 1930s Lola Prusac-designed styles and the hallowed Mondrian-inspired tote – that sell for astronomical prices."

Would I know one if I saw it? I don't know. One can always dream....


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Mondrian Style