Servant Leader, Historian, Writer
I barely remember the first time I saw The Room, that quirky film from 2003 that people love-to-hate-to-love. According to my DVD Netflix history, I received it in September of 2015, and I gave it only one star. When I watched …
7 Things About THE ROOM Read more »
The past few years have marked a century since the war that promised to end all wars. We know that the world didn’t learn its lesson, and so the Great War became World War I. This is the story of …
WWI: A Perspective on the Concept of “Enemy” Read more »
Each year when the Oscar nominees come out, it’s fun to review the list and add the ones that look interesting to my DVD Netflix queue. This year’s movies are just starting to arrive in my mailbox, and the gem …
“Call Me by Your Name” Oscar Well-Deserved Read more »
It seems that Tommy Wiseau has had the last laugh. Fifteen years ago, he spent $6 million to make The Room and grossed only $1,900 on its first release. Now, it’s become a cult phenomenon, and even though I’ve already …
Best F(r)iends: Funny? Or Not? Read more »
A spouse’s passing devastates. A Widow’s Story, by Joyce Carol Oates, illustrates the first year after her husband, Raymond J. Smith, died on February 18, 2008. Oates was fortunate to have many devoted friends, but she still felt isolated and …
Reading A Widow’s Story & Remembering 2008 JCO Talk Read more »
Recently, I visited with my daughter, son-in-law, and two-year-old grandson for three weeks around the birth of my new granddaughter. Not 24-hours in, I remembered why I was so tired when my three kids were small in the 80’s. How …
7 Things Learned from a 3-Week Visit with a Toddler Read more »
You’ll find a thousand tofu scramble recipes on the Web and in cookbooks, but none more easy and delicious than this one. I took my favorite recipes and combined them into a one-pan dish, ready in about 30 minutes. Best-Ever …
Best-Ever Tofu Scramble Read more »
Recently, I saw The Post, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The film centers on a damning Vietnam War study and Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham’s most-difficult decision in 1971. At the beginning of the film, I was confused by …
The Post: Film About Katharine Graham, Unsure to Unstoppable Read more »
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Beetlejuice, the 1988 horror comedy starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder. Because it seemed that I was the only person on earth who hadn’t see it, last month, I …
30 Years Later: 7 Things I Like About Beetlejuice Read more »
Did young Tonya Harding ever imagine that a movie about her would earn multiple Oscar nominations? Perhaps—but during many periods of her life, this might have seemed like a laughable impossibility to her—and to many of us, for that matter. Well, …
I, Tonya: Well-Deserved Nominations, Potential Triggers Read more »