to be sipped not gulped.

Like a Bill Bryson travelog, some things are more enjoyable if taken in small doses. I urge the consumer to take a sip at a time rather than gorging. 

A friend and pun monster, Susan Rhode, messaged me this link to the contest results, where entrants try to write the worst opening sentence to a story. There are numerous categories, including the one that started it all, "It was a dark and stormy night..."

Do yourself a  favor. When you start reading a category, do not read the next entry until you have quit laughing at the one you've just read. Do not read more than one category per day. And if you're like me, who always puts a humorous quote at the bottom of my emails, save this link. There is a lot to work with here.

https://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2022?fbclid=IwAR2aqcBmyVrJtxHcQ-AJPXv8g5SXngNCwONugYnTB35zy7uvSldRP9qCeCg

On My Easel

Prey For Me

Pastel 9 x 12

Paper

Film Review 

Short And Sweet, I Promise.

Going to the Avalon theater is a wonderful experience all by itself, but going there to see the new Tom Hanks film, A Man Called Otto, was an exponentially wonderful experience.

Hanks stars in this story of a man who we see first as a grouchy old compulsive dictator in his cul-de-sac community. He berates his neighbors for numerous rules violations, including not properly using the many recycling bins, public exercising in clothing that is far too revealing, and delivering unwanted shopping paper to his doorstep.

As they exposed his backstory, we find that he is an engineer who has been downsized by his company. The rules he follows and imposes on the neighbors came to life when he was the head of the neighborhood association. And finally, we discover he is a widower.

Each attempt that he makes to "rejoin his wife" fails. Their innocent, unconditional concern for him quashes his attempts to ignore the new family in his neighborhood. He also suffers from the enduring guilt he feels for letting down his best friend and reverses his anger at the unthinking paper boy when he discovers the kid is transgendered and homeless.

Slowly, through the use of flashbacks, we see this old grouch as a young man in love with a woman who makes him a better human being.  

(Yes, the younger version of the character is played by his son Truman Hanks)

To me, it was a skillful and loveable remake of Scrooge. If you shed a couple of tears during this film, I guarantee you won't be alone.

Again, from the untiring efforts of the webmaster for the St. Louis Park class of 1959, David Nitz.