A date with my daughter

We met this morning before 11:30 (It was my granddaughter's first day back at school for this coming year, so my daughter thought she had some 'free time'.) - way out there on the west side of Katy - to see "Julie & Julia". Have you seen it? My daughter said she'd be there by 11:15. (According to her research on the web, the movie was due to begin at 11:35.) I said I'd try and be there a little earlier than that, but I wasn't for sure. Well, as it turned out, I was there before 11:15 (she wasn't there yet) and I thought, "I'll buy the tickets for us. It's so seldom I get to see her or treat her these days, it seems." And so, I did. Feeling pretty darned good about myself and with tickets in hand, I waited.

Well, the time went by and I nervously paced back and forth just inside the air-conditioned theater and then outside in the sweltering heat. No daughter. (And, of course, I'd left my cell phone in the car, so I couldn't call her.) Meanwhile, during my minutes of waiting, I perused the everyoneknowsthey'reover-pricedbutbuysthestuffanywaycuztheyknowyou'reacaptiveaudience food counter next to where I had purchased our tickets.

Then, just before 11:30, she hurries in, saying, "Mom, I had to stop for gas. Sorry!" "No problem," I respond, handing her her ticket. Then she says, "Let's get something to eat!" And so we move on over to the main food counter, where the menu is nowhere NEAR the same as the one I had been perusing! Go figure, right?

She wanted popcorn and lots of it! Normally, I might as well, but a fellow who had been standing in the "earlybird" line just before me had ordered a cheeseburger. (?) When I asked him why he was ordering a cheeseburger in a movie theater, he responded, "It tastes pretty good, actually!"

Long story short, I went back and ordered a cheeseburger (w/o tomatoes, but with everything else), fries (which came with the order, and were pretty heavily spiced) and a hot chocolate with just a dab of whipped cream on top. Have you ever ordered such a thing at your movie theater? I never had!

ANYhoo, both of us - armed with enough calories to do us for the next couple of hours or so - entered theater #8.


Now, Meryl Streep is (imo) one of the more talented actresses of our day, but I haven't even beGUN to see all of her movies. (Nor do I intend to! Many of them are subjects which I have not even the vaguest interest in!! All that aside, however, I must say that "Out of Africa" is one of my favorites. Didn't that co-star Robert Redford? ... Give me a sec here, while I look it up. ... Yep, here it is!


This is a film that came out in 1985 ... 24 years ago. Even I am having a problem believing that figure!

My goodness, my goodness! This was before Robert Redford began to lose his extraordinary good looks, wasn't it? It's hard to believe, really and truly, that it was that long ago.

My daughter tells me that she has heard of the film, but has never seen it. Well, she has something to look forward to, doesn't she? The film received 28 awards, including seven Academy Awards, one of which HAS to have been for 'cinematography'. You'll have to give me another sec here, while I look it up. ... ... Yes, I was correct!)


But let's move on to today's film. I heartily recommend it, but perhaps more for those of you who are old enough to remember Julia Child.

I didn't watch her television show much, actually, - primarily becuz I was kind of 'put off' by her somewhat nasal and high-pitched British accent - but mostly, I think, because I wasn't that interested in cooking. However, I distinctly remember one episode on her cooking show where she was trying to flip an omelette - at least, I think it was an omelette! - and it landed on the floor. Then, in her delightfully-comedic way, she said, "Well, that one won't make it to the dinner table!"

In my memory of her show, she relegated 'it' - whatever it was she had tried to flip - to a trash can. However, in the movie we saw today - at least twice - people ("cooks") picked stuff up off of the floor and proceeded on with stuffing whatever it was into whatever it was that they were cooking at the time. Kind of makes you wonder, eh what, what you're eating and where it's been???


There was a delightful scene in the film that I wouldn't mind seeing again and again and again. It's the scene where Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) and her husband are hosting a party for Julia's sister, Dorothy, who is herself another taller-than-average female. (Julia, herself, was purportedly 6'2".) They think they might have found a 'perfect match' for Dorothy, and invited another over-sized male friend of theirs to the party.

Their male friend arrived a touch late, unfortunately. Dorothy had already been introduced to another guest (male) at the party, and the expressions on both Julia's (Meryl's) and her husband's faces when they realized that a mutual attraction had already been formed are absolutely priceless. Priceless!


I was going to conclude this post with a joke, but I'll save it for my next one! How's that for enticing? :)