Arguably the best series ever aired on television

Fast-paced dialogue.
Fine acting.
Scripts written with an intelligent audience in mind.
Great humor.
Tender moments.
Thirty minute episodes that packed so much in, you thought it must be at least an hour long.
My favorite part: the Aha! moment when you get the point and didn't have to suffer the inevitable sit-com two by four over the head to have it made known.

In my opinion this series is Aaron Sorkin's finest work. We watched it when it originally aired on ABC in the late 90's. We didn't miss an episode, in fact we'd watch them again, just to savor them once more. Sadly, the show was only on for two seasons. Comedy Central picked it up and ran it. We watched it on Comedy Central. Now we own the DVD's.

I watched several episodes over the last couple of days while I was quilting. I still love the show! I laugh, I cry, I remember great lines. Here's one I picked up this time: The character Jeremy writes in a letter to his sister, "I understand what makes a woman think that any man is better than nothing. I'll just never understand what makes a woman think she's got nothing." This happens just as Dana sells herself short in a situation. Maybe it's one of those where you had to be there. Luckily I was there, watching a great show.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Not my favorite book. There were elements that were good - the different points of view telling the story, some very witty and funny parts. However, the rest of it didn't make up for those parts.

Why the vulgarity? It was offensive and not necessary.

I felt the ending was unsatisfactory. The story did not resolve at all. What a let down.

It was told from the point of view of an eight-year-old??? Come on. This guy apparently knows no eight-year-olds. And no parents or grandparents of eight-year-olds.

You're going to tell me a 102-year-old man can walk for hours all over New York City? Every week? When he hasn't left his apartment for years before that?

In short, there were too many areas to suspend belief in a story that was supposed to be believable. Don't waste your time.

We the People

Matheson Courthouse, Salt Lake City

Today I reported for jury duty for the Utah State Third District Court promptly at 8:30 a.m. I've never been summoned for jury duty before in any place that I've lived, and I was excited at the prospect of potentially being a juror.

We watched a short video about serving on a jury, then did some sitting and waiting until a bailiff came to summon a group of us. I was in the third and final group to go (22 of us). The whole process was especially interesting to me because my daughter was a law clerk/bailiff in the Fourth District Court for a year.

We were seated in order in the courtroom of Judge Deno G. Himanas. Because choosing a jury is part of the trial process, we were all sworn in at the very beginning. After that we were each asked by the judge to stand and give some basic information about ourselves - this was comprised of answering specific questions handed to us on a piece of paper. Name, occupation, education level, spouse's name and occupation, number and ages of our children, hobbies and interests, any periodicals read regularly. Following that the judge asked several questions to the jury pool as a whole, and if we answered yes there were follow-up questions to that. After about 45 minutes of questions from the judge, we were questioned by the attorneys. Fifteen minutes later they were done. Judge Himanas talked for a few minutes about the history of the jury system in our country while the lawyers finished up some things. Then they conferred for a few moments, and the judge asked us to wait in the hallway while he spoke individually to a few of the jury candidates. When we were called back in four jurors were named (that's all that were needed for this particular trial). I was not one of them.

I was a tiny bit disappointed to not be chosen. Although our legal system is not perfect, it is far superior to the systems of most countries in our world today. I consider it a privilege to have been asked to serve today.

March...or December?

We're having a snowstorm today the likes of which we haven't seen since last December. I was hoping we were done with snow/ice/slipping/driving in yucky conditions. Not so.

Sisters Weekend - the next generation

Audrey, Diane, Debra, Beth

This last weekend my daughters and I had our own Sisters Weekend. Everyone gathered Thursday night at my house. We chatted, then all went in to watch Survivor and American Idol together. We had a good time discussing both shows thoroughly - just like old times together!

Friday among our time spent playing Hand and Foot, and snacking on favorite foods, we found time to go to Nordstrom for their grand opening of the new Fashion Place Mall store. I felt like I was back in Seattle again! This is a Nordstrom like I know and love. I told a sales clerk that it felt like home. She said several people had said they felt like they were on vacation in that store. I guess it's all what you're used to.

Saturday was project day. Mostly I held babies and watched. The girls etched their names into their pyrex glassware. Then Debra with a lot of input from the others worked on our photo album for 2008. Then Beth and Audrey made nursing cover-ups. We still managed to get in a couple games of Hand and Foot. The time flew by! I couldn't believe how fast the weekend sped right past us.

Sunday we all went to church, then the men and babies joined us for dinner. It was a very satisfactory conclusion to the weekend.

We had a couple of special guests for the weekend:

Madeleine

and Rachel

Audrey working on the etching project

Debra slaving away on the computer (front right). Diane and Audrey lending moral support.

Beth and Audrey modeling their nursing cover-ups.

The Alpine Traitor by Mary Daheim

This was better than the last book in this mystery series. I think this is a series that needs to be read from the beginning. Right now I especially enjoy all the references to the Seattle area - it's fun to really know what she's talking about.

Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy

The second White House Chef Mystery.

Hyzy does a good job with these. I hope she keeps them coming. This one is brand new, so it may be a while before the next one is out.

These books are clean - no language or other problems. Isn't it amazing that a good story can still happen without those things? (Just a hint of sarcasm there.)

Sisters Weekend - the first generation

Back row: Diane, Audry, Ann, Sally

Front row: Orva, Amy, Joanne (mom), Elna, Jennifer

Each year the Linford sisters, sisters-in-law, and mother get together for a long weekend. No spouses, no children older than babies. We've been doing this since 1991. I look forward to it every year, and have never missed a year yet. We call it Sisters Weekend, and although we have it on the calendar for the second weekend in March every year, we go to great lengths to accommodate someone who can't make it that weekend. This year everyone accommodated me, and we did the weekend a couple weeks earlier than usual.

We commenced Thursday night with dinner. (Tomato soup and panini sandwiches). This year we stayed at Orva's. One tradition we have is that we get "party favors" for everyone. It's like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one. We gave our party favors out on Thursday night. What a bounty!

Friday we did our usual - sit around and talk, and some of us work on projects - sewing, handwork, computer stuff, etc. I brought my laptop and worked on labeling pictures. It was the perfect project because I could still concentrate on the conversation around me and also get a lot done on the computer. For lunch we went out to eat with our daughters who are 18 and over who could come. We had Lucy, Annie, Rebekah, Audrey, Debra, Laura, Charlotte, and Abbie. We were so stuffed from lunch that we just had sandwiches and leftovers for dinner.

Saturday more talking and projects. Dinner was Raw Vegetable Soup. Delicious!

Sunday we had church, talking and projects (can you sense a theme here?) Dinner was White Bean Chili. Once again delicious! Charles came over and took our group picture (see above). Some of the sisters had individual portraits taken. I had a choir practice that night, then came back. Sunday night always speeds by - the end is coming, and the weekend has gone by too fast.

Monday morning we cleaned up and cleared out. Now Orva has her home back, and we have all rejoined our families. I came home, unpacked, and took a 3 hour nap; sleep is not a high priority at Sisters. I'm already looking forward to next year.

In the meantime I have my own Sisters weekend with my daughters next week. I can't wait!