Doing the Dishes

Michael Emerson described the job of washing dishes as a not “high-profile” job, and something that “lacked artistry,” but he said, “if they [the simple jobs] don’t all get done, then nothing gets done.” He said, “it’s kinda fun and therapeutic to take care of, to sort of double back and take care of the more menial end of the scale.”

If that doesn’t inspire a person, I don’t know what does. I think I’m gonna go do some dishes now.

P.S. Can I just say how annoyed I am that there’s no new Person of Interest this week?I have a message for whoever did that…

Arsenic and Old Lace

I watched Arsenic and Old Lace again on Saturday….Can I just ask one simple question please? What in the WORLD ever possessed someone to write that? Any ideas?Yeah, me neither.

Now, I’m not saying it’s not funny, don’t get me wrong. Cary Grant does an absolutely hilarious job in his part. I think my favorite part is when he first sees the body in the window seat…I mean really, that FACE!Also, it was great fun to see that the guy who played Johnny was Raymond Massey, who played Sherlock Holmes in 1931. Although his face looked quite different, his voice was just the same. I was very proud of myself for noticing!But basically my reaction to this movie is a combination of these three GIFs…Sigh… It seems like Michael Emerson GIFs are very appropriate for this movie, maybe that’s because he’s played so many murderous nut jobs…Oh, yes, forgive me, sir!

No but really, once you get past the gag reflex it’s a really enjoyable watch…

Yeah, OK, so maybe there actually is.Awww, forget it.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Okeydokey, folks, this is my Valentine’s Day post. I’m single, and I expect to be so for some time considering I’m only 17. So I’m going to write about some of my very favorite couples.

I’d say my number one has to be Michael Emerson and Carrie Preston. They have been married for 14 years now. I personally find the way Michael and Carrie act with one another so adorable. They don’t push their romance into your face like a lot of Hollywood couples do. They don’t kiss or hang on each other, they just stand there, smiling, holding hands or with their arms around each other’s waists – looking so incredibly in love. I’ll admit, off hand, I can only think of a few other couples I’ve seen who look that in love. I often wonder if it has something to do with the fact that they are an “older” couple. Sometimes I think that, yes, there is something special to young love, but I also feel maybe there’s something even more special to “old” love. No offense there, Carrie and Michael; I’m not saying you’re old, I’m just trying to make a point. 🙂

This next one is sort of in revolt to a lot of talk that’s been going around about Basil and Ouida Rathbone. Whatever people say, I can’t mistake that look in Basil’s face in this picture. Whatever people say and whatever difficulties come up, I will always believe Basil loved Ouida immensely. I say you can’t hear this quote and see his expression without believing the same thing. “. . . she has given my life purpose and, through her never-failing belief in me, I have gained confidence in myself.” I may be wrong, but from things I’ve heard Basil say, it seems to me that Ouida initially took Basil on as another project, to “fix” him after his experiences in the war. She did a very good job with it, and they fell in love in the process.

Jeremy Brett and his wife Joanie had a very special, very heartbreaking relationship. When Jeremy was giving so many long hours of his life in attempt to complete his dream of filming all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, he still found time to do publicity walks and promotional runs for finding a cure for cancer, an illness his dear wife was dying from. Joanie did eventually lose her life to cancer, and Jeremy was thrown into depression and a nervous breakdown because of his loss. He was ill for some time until his son and a good friend helped him out of his illness with their support, and he continued on to try to fulfill his dream. A year or so after Joanie’s death, Jeremy found an earring, just like one she had lost shortly before her death, while walking along a peer. He said it was like she dropped it down from heaven for him. From then on he was rarely seen without the gold hoop in his left ear. This is a rather sad story, but I can only think of all the wonderfully loving things I’ve heard Jeremy say about his wife, and the few wonderful years they spent together.

Comparatively speaking, I really know very little about David Suchet and his wife Sheila. All I can say is, it’s infinitely hilarious and adorable that he’s shorter than her (even though it is just by a little,) and in interviews David almost always mentions Sheila, and I find that very sweet. I also find this photo so adorable I couldn’t refuse posting it.

And now, last but not least, a very special couple to me – my brother Caleb and his girlfriend Abby. I can’t say I jumped for joy when I first realized it was happening, I mean, after all, I’m a little sister, and little sisters are protective of their big brothers. I feel much better about it now, though. All I can say is that had she better do right by him! 😉 And I think she will.

A Whispered Warning

Last week, when I was deciding what I would blog about this week, I had settled on a double post, combining a happy birthday Nigel Bruce, and a couple cute/funny things I’d learned about Basil Rathbone – but yesterday, when I was watching interviews with Michael Emerson to while away the time before the Super Bowl came on, I came across a YouTube video which was titled, UNKNOWN by Lee Blessing, which I thought was some sort of poem that Emerson was quoting. I clicked on it, and was surprised that it was not a poem, but just him talking, only talking in the character of a school teacher. My pleasant surprise and interest soon turned to sober shock and even slight alarm. Michael Emerson was quoting the statement that a man had made after seeing a young man commit suicide by jumping in front of a train.

I felt sick as I listened to it. I’ve not experienced actually seeing someone commit suicide, but someone very dear to me has committed suicide, and someone even closer to me has informed me of a time in her life when she considered taking her own life. What I am trying to say is that I am not foreign to the feelings communicated in this video, in fact I am still all too close to them.

He said it was almost like “magic.” Black magic, I would say, but I know absolutely exactly what he meant.  “…I wanted it to remain magic, which is to say, real, but impossible – shocking – blinding, even, in a way…” The words explain my very feelings at the time of my tragedy.

I was stunned. It was – incredible – so horrible, so terrible – so true.

Be warned. There are people everywhere, people who may very well seem happy and well, they may be young, they may be religious, but you never know. It can happen, it can happen to the people you least expected it to happen to. To the people you thought could never do it. Don’t close your eyes to the fact that people taking their own life is becoming more prevalent than ever before. Be aware. Be watchful. Do your best to help. Don’t let the fact that it’s “a perfect day, in a free country,” blind you to this incredibly important “lesson,” this “whispered warning.”

I’m going to include a link to the original video because it was so impactful to me. But be forewarned – it may be the most sobering thing I have ever seen in my entire life. If you are affected deeply by things of this sort, you may not want to watch it. But even so you may, because if I had known what it was before I watched it, I don’t think I would have watched it, but now that I have, I think it was good for me to – very, very hard, but good for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFOShJEWQac

I am now going to include the lyrics to the song that was of the most comfort to me in my tragedy, just because this was a very deep and sober post, and I feel I should not end this without a statement of the hope of God and Christ Jesus.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.