Morning all:

“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.” — James Branch Cabell

A shoebox piece contained my morning sentiments exactly when offering an insight by health experts suggesting ten ways to stay alert at work. Here’s my ten: Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee Coffee. It also works in the morning.

People really are innovative. This week a new web site started up; the Rules of Thumb. Huh, you ask? Sure, for example, in my household it is a rule of thumb that, for some unknown reason, when I am walking with Marcia she tends to fall behind, the slower I walk, the slower she will walk, until she stops. If I maintain my pace, she will keep up with me, albeit somewhat behind.

Okay, that is a rule of thumb. Any rules of thumb you care to share?

Last weekend we had a great time in Michigan. Actually another rule of thumb came into play. A couple of weeks ago the call came inviting us to come up. Rule of Thumb: always say no until there’s been enough intervening time to evaluate and then say “yes”. I don’t want to make it seem as if I am searching for items that belong exclusively to Marcia—but, truth be told, her initial answer was, “NO.” Then the next day it had changed to a resounding “YES”.

We feasted, chatted, and laughed. Laughed till our stomach muscles ached. Laughed till brother-in-law David jumped up with a charley horse. Laughed so loud that nearby tables cut their conversations short.

Maybe, just maybe, having a 60th birthday party isn’t all bad. We had a great time Dia.

Since I am sharing deep dark secrets let me continue and expose the fact that neither Marcia nor I are major movie buffs. This seems to be a bit of a sore spot with the kids. They love heading for the theatre, want to talk about what they saw, and then get blank stares from us.

We discovered Netflix.

What I mean is that we discovered the junior version of Netflix. We get two movies a month, rain or shine. So now an evening at the movies is a bit of an event. Marcia will have dinner ready just a bit earlier—so we can stay up. A snack is made. The table is cleared and the DVD player is primed. Here is what we watched the past three times, in sequence:

• Best in Show, a lighthearted mockumentary which we enjoyed.
• A Mighty Wind, a lighthearted mockumentary that I ordered by mistake. I thought I’d ordered “A Mighty Heart”. It wasn’t until Marcia and I started taking turns pointing out actors we recognized from Best in Show that the error dawned on us. We sat through most of the hootenanny scenes before going to bed.
• A Mighty Heart, the moving and powerful retelling of the abduction and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. I had read the book Pearl’s wife wrote and now was captivated by the drama and the scenes from Karachi, Pakistan. Marcia startled and popped-up buggy-eyed when Marianne Pearl (Angelina Jolie) started wailing upon hearing the news of Daniel’s death. We haven’t discussed this movie yet, maybe over breakfast I can fill Marcia in.

Make it a great week everyone. Keep your life a moving picture show.

Cheers,

Dirk