— Picking up my “Chronological Shakespeare” reading project, which I’ve done once before, years ago. It’s so fun, time-consuming but well worth it. Currently reading Merry Wives of Windsor<\/i> which feels completely ridiculous as well as an enormous sigh of relief after all the clashing wars and hatreds of the “Rose Rage” history plays that led up to it. Merry Wives<\/i> moves us into some extremely heavy-hitting major plays that follow (at least according to the chronology speculated and assumed). Lots of fun. <\/p>\n
— Drove up into Westchester yesterday to see my sister and her husband’s brand new apartment (the move was yesterday). I picked up Ben in the city, at the old apartment, and he had bins of cleaning supplies with him, having cleaned up the joint after everything was moved out, and then he and I drove up into Westchester through a snowy wooded landscape. My mother had driven down as well. So it was a nice family convergence, and a good chance to hang out with my sister, and with my wonderful niece, whom I babysit a couple times a month. Everything still piled up in boxes, the beauty of snowy Westchester all around us, the comfort of family. I had to head back to my place after a couple of hours, but it was a treat, a mini-Thanksgiving, hanging out with family. <\/p>\n
— I am sure you all have heard that the biggest blizzard EVER IN THE HISTORY OF WEATHER is descending upon us on the East Coast later today. As a life-long New Englander, I take weather hyperbole with a pound of salt, but after the last couple of years, with the one-two wallop of Irene and Sandy and the recent winter when I basically stopped shoveling my car out because why freakin’ BOTHER \u2026 I have made preparations for being snowed in. There was one year when we got so much snow – it was before 2003, maybe it was 2000? – when I remember standing in a completely shutdown snowed-in Times Square, with people literally cross-country skiing down Broadway. So we’ll see if this storm can compete with that. I have a couple more errands to run and then I’ll be all set. Just in case. <\/p>\n
— Some exciting things are happening with my script but it’s not time to talk about it yet. Wouldn’t want to jinx it! But looks like I’ll be going out to LA in February. Things have been so busy on my end that I have barely had time to process what’s going on, let alone enjoy it. The other day I hung up the phone after a quick check-in conversation about my script, and I immediately started buzzing off through my apartment to continue on with my next chore, whatever it was, and I suddenly said to myself, “Sheila. How about you take 5 seconds – just 5 seconds – to ENJOY that this is happening. Hm? Whaddya say.” <\/p>\n
— Just in time for the blizzard, my Robert Mitchum box set arrived. There is some crossover, I already own Night of the Hunter<\/i> and River of No Return<\/i> but it’s good to finally own the Gearhead-Heaven film Thunder Road<\/i>, which we discussed here <\/a>recently! I watched it the other night. Those CARS. I drool, I tell ya. Other films in the set: Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, The Enemy Below, The Hunters, The Longest Day, Man In The Middle, What A Way To Go, The Way West.<\/i> So I’m all set if snow-drifts shut us all in for a couple of days. <\/p>\n — Not a lot of time for pleasure-reading these days, but I do read every night for about half an hour before I go to sleep. I’ve been re-reading James Cain, and just finished Double Indemnity<\/i>. The flat-affect of that narrator \u2026 I mean, it puts a shiver down your spine. I’ll re-read Mildred Pierce<\/i> next. The main novel that I’ve been reading for about a month now is Stendhal’s The Red and the Black<\/i> which I have never read. It’s absolutely phenomenal. Laugh-out-loud funny at times, which I was not expecting, and completely merciless<\/i>. I’m about halfway through, and Julien Sorel is now ensconced in Paris in the house of the Marquis and he is quietly wreaking havoc, on purpose. He is a man who did not go to war. He feels like less of a man because of that and so in order to feel “great” he makes up all of these scenarios where he can be great and brave. Mainly by climbing up ladders into girl’s bedrooms. I love that each chapter starts with some pithy perfect epigram, and that a lot of them Stendhal MADE UP. Hilarious! He’s attributing a quote to so-and-so only so-and-so never said it. I know that Julien is headed for a huge fall, but don’t tell me what happens! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" — Picking up my “Chronological Shakespeare” reading project, which I’ve done once before, years ago. It’s so fun, time-consuming but well worth it. Currently reading Merry Wives of Windsor which feels completely ridiculous as well as an enormous sigh of … Continue reading