What Hallmark Channel is Selling Me.

I’ve been watching a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies, and here’s what I’m being sold* while watching:

  1. A magical eyebrow shaper.
  2. Nordic Track/Bowflex/Peleton.
  3. Wayfair. All the time, Wayfair.
  4. Life Alert bracelets.
  5. Balsam Hill Christmas trees (which, by the way, can run up to $1,000).

 

*In addition to the science-fiction fantasy that Christmas is a magical romantic time where all my dreams come true.

The Ancestors.

I’ve done a bit of digging around my family tree and have learned some things. Here’s five of my most fascinating ancestors*.

  1. Frances Fenton, who got her PhD in 1910 from the University of Chicago.
  2. Jean Tatlock, who allegedly had an affair with Robert Oppenheimer and was a total communist.
  3. John Fenton, who fought in the Revolutionary War.
  4. Fenton St. Clair Butterfield, who was married in 1863 but I cannot find any death or divorce records from that wife…but he married my great-great-grandmother in 1881…
  5. Hyman Gindich, who left Kiev during the Russian pogroms in 1906.

 

*Ancestors I did not know personally. Both of my grandmothers were pretty kickass.

The Best Dates, updated

I’ve been dating for almost 30 years, but it’s a Saturday night and I am dateless so why not pick at that emotional scab a little? During the summer of 2010 I wrote extensively about my best and worst dates. You can check out the archives for those if you are so inclined.

But I’ve logged eight years of dates since then. Here’s a condensed and updated list of my five best dates, in no particular order.

  1. When we met for a late lunch and ended up talking for four hours in the restaurant.
  2. When we sat on the hood of his jeep and looked at the stars and talked.
  3. When we laid on opposite ends of the couch reading books and occasionally talked about what we read.
  4. When at the end of the night he apologized for not talking as much as usual; “I couldn’t stop looking at you. You’re just so beautiful,” he explained.
  5. When after dinner he made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe.

The Musicals List, Part 1.

Since my friend the musical director gave me this year’s score to start practicing, that makes it a good day for a list about musicals.

Five Musicals That Never Get Old For Me*

West Side Story

The Sound of Music

The Music Man

Lala Land

Wicked

*Musicals I’ve actually seen more than once.