About "About Alice"

This was an extremely quick read, but I enjoyed it. Calvin Trillin has been a writer for The New Yorker since 1963, and his wife, Alice, was a writer also. The story is a short collection of tributes to her, basically telling the story of her personality and how she dealt with cancer and heart issues finally leading up to her death. Some of it is very funny and I laughed out loud, but most of it is just poignant and sweet and endearing. It's less than 100 pages, so it's not exactly a Little Golden Book, but it's not an epic King novel, either. Now I have to search my library for something else to strike my fancy because I can't stand just reading one book at once. Even though I adore Steve Martin!

Last night we started watching the tv series "Better Off Ted" on dvd. It's pretty funny, and I've always enjoyed Portia De Rossi. After a few episodes of that, we sent the kids away and watched Paranormal Activity which, those of you who are on Facebook with me already know, I thought was terrible. TERRIBLE. Seriously. Probably the worst "scary" movie I've ever seen. When did "scary" begin to mean "nothing will really happen but periodically a loud noise will occur which might make you jump but if you're expecting it, probably not"? If you haven't seen this movie already, don't waste the 90 minutes. Just have one of your kids hide in different places in the house and jump out at you at random intervals, thereby saving the $3.00 on rental (or $4.25 on Blu-Ray!)

I do want to share something beautiful that was in my devotional book today by Gary Chapman. He writes, "All true repentance begins in the heart. The decision to change shows that we are no longer making excuses or minimizing our behavior. Instead, we are accepting full responsibility for our actions... we are putting our sinful behavior behind us and seeking a new heart and a new spirit. (Ezekiel 18:30-31) Only God can give those. He can renew in us a desire to change the way we act. He can help us do better. When we share our desire to change, the offended party gets a glimpse of our heart. That often leads to forgiveness."

This is so true, not just in the marriage relationship, but in all kinds of relationships in life. Family, coworkers, friends, spouses, kids, adults, etc. This is part of the change I'm trying to make in my life this year. Not just to say the words "I'm sorry" but to make a true change in my behavior and attempt to align myself and my ways with what I truly want to become. Gary Chapman is, in my opinion, very good at what he does.

Have an enjoyable day -- bask in the sunshine while it's here!

SJS