Tag Archives: woody allen

love you woody allen. yes, i mean it.

14 Jun

listening to harry janes & his orchestra – the “i’ve heard that song before” – takes me right back to age 22 when i first realized that woody allen’s movies were the slice of life movies i loved.  especially this song in hannah & her sisters.    i know. i know.  lots of controversy on WA.   i don’t care.  you know why?

oh these movies are so good.  but let me explain why.  these aren’t cliff-hanger, sensational movies.  no.  these are really deep “love ’em or hate ’em” character movies.  it’s honest.  they are hard to watch sometimes.  once again, they are a bit slow but it’s meant to be watched like you are just an observer – a fly on the wall.

i probably have written this before but i got into woody movies from an awesome class i took at columbia – urban life in media & film. thought it would be a blow-off class.  not so much.  but when we watched the movie MANHATTAN in that class -that was it for me.  done.  sold from the opening scene:

at 24 years old, i can’t even believe how much i watched his movies.  to the point that my clients gave me as a going away gift, a CD collection of all his movies (love.) 

take this scene my chicago roommate and i watched over and over again in his movie HUSBANDS AND WIVES.  i think judy davis won an award for this role.  this scene comes from her first date after she separated from her husband who was cheating on her.  her acting is brilliant, funny and sad all at the same time.

but my favorite movie of all time is annie hall.

la dee da.  the greatest part is that annie was from… wisconsin. chippewa falls.  i love it.

well, i just heard that song.  and this is what i thought about it.

happy wednesday.

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feeling appreciative

28 Jun

if you read my “bio” or whatever you call it in the upper right hand corner, you will see that i’m the appreciator because i wasn’t sure what to focus my blog on.  i started writing this for background info as part of my job – so that i would actually know how to do it.

how i came up with that idea of “the appreciator” is:

ROF and i were taking a walk through our neighborhood.  it was about a year ago now.  and as we’re walking i’m asking him what could my focus could be…because you know, you have to have a focus.  the conversation went a little bit like this:

“so i’m thinking of writing a blog” (me)

“really?  that’s cool.  about what?” (him)

“that’s the thing, i don’t know” (me)

“why do you want to do it?” (him)

“well, my CEO wants some information on writing a blog and i want to be able to say i know how…from my perspective” (me)

“ok.  well you are a good at a lot of things” (him)

“awe.  that’s sweet.  go on.  like what”  (digging for more…me)

“well, social media for one.  you love it, believe in it and know it.  (him)

“yeah.  but that’s work.  there’s more to me.  here’s the deal.  i appreciate nice music but i don’t write it.  i appreciate great design but i’m not a designer” (me)

“go on” (him)

“and i love DIY stuff but i don’t actually DIY” (me)

“and….” (him)

“and… i love photography but i don’t do it professionally.  love good food but don’t cook professionally – but i appreciate it all!” (me)

“i know” (me)

“i’m the appreciator” (me)

“there you have it” (him)

and there i had it.  so going back to the basics, here is the short list of things i appreciate.  

my relationship with God.  my Father and hard core foundation.  thank Him that i don’t struggle with “the meaning of life”.  i have it.

husband, ROF.  Sappy and all – he is whom i appreciate the most

mom & sister.  not a “given” they are built-in friends for life and beyond. soul-mates

awesome extended family.  susan, mike, mike, bill & sarah.  wonderful people whom i love being connected to (6 more days, susan!)

wonderful aunts & uncles & cousins – seriously fun people i wish we were all a lot closer

career and all the people who have supported me and taught me and pushed me to the limits (you know who you are)

career and all the people who believe in what we do and work hard to support “the cause”! (you know who you are A & S)

friends – you know who you are too

house, i never stop appreciating you

max and wrigley.  my babies.  i love you to death

flying all over the country

flying in first class

flying in first class on vacation with a bottle of red wine

playing gin with #1

cooking dinner with #1

clean cut grass

white sheets 

being organized

our new MAC computer suite (kiss kiss kiss)

massive storms when i’m with people i love or like a lot

massive storms when there is red wine involved to calm me down

colorado – feeling little teeny tiny in a land of big mountains and low valleys and knowing that man had nothing to do with the beauty

turbulence

poached eggs

the food network

mad men, damages, restaurant impossible, anthony bourdain

chevy dealers all over the country

the geigers in madison wisconsin

the dallas cowboys (ROF, stop laughing, i mean it)

the night before you go on vacation

the night before holidays

friends who surprise you on your anniversary by toilet papering your house at midnight and then ringing your doorbell while you’re watching ghost adventurers (EEKK!) and showing up with a bottle of good, no great, champagne.

knowing that your prayers are answered

central market and whole foods when no one else is in the store

church when you sing that hymn and it hits you in a way that you have to cry but no one knows your crying

remembering the feel of your dad’s hands and smiling at the thought of his “funny tooth”

a big Christmas dinner over at a big families’s house with lots of food, drinks, a bonfire and love

the east coast -hills and chills and history

woody allen

the movies: network, manhattan, annie hall, guess who came to dinner, manchurian candidate and more

good wine

bad wine

great music – house, electronic, rock, mix tapes, playlists, hip and cool

going out to eat

louie and louie’s

chicago

costa rica

the joule

making ROF coffee in the morning

are you still reading?

magazines and all the nuggets of information they contain

ideas and the execution of ideas

smart clients

smart people

passionate thinkers

forgiveness

ok, i’m tired now and i’m going to go.  this was not an exhaustive list by any means.

it felt good to capture some of this.  wish you would share with me some of the things you appreciate so i can too!

xxoo 

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appreciating doing something other than work

17 Dec

so i started thinking

before i started writing this blog, that i’d write about hobbies and my lack of having one.  however, during the real in-depth research i do for every post, i discovered – HA! – i actually have several. i’ve also discovered that i do not like the word hobby.  maybe because it reminds me of holly hobby and i always thought she was stupid.  but also the word hobby doesn’t really do what it means justice.  case in point, if you like designing grand pieces of abstract art that demonstrates your radical existential viewpoint on life but you don’t make a living at it, is that your…hobby?   i guess so.

anyhoo

i guess a hobby i have is photography.  i don’t have the fancy cameras, in fact, my phone will work just fine.  i love capturing everything.  what i think is important is then transferring those photos to something tangible like a book.  i haven’t gone that far yet.  with my photos, i like to capture a city’s beat or pulse.  i like to capture moments and make them look pretty.  for some reason, this year, i love capturing in-flight photos.  maybe because i appreciate God’s ability to get me up in the air and give me a glimpse of the earth from 15,000+ feet. i also like ‘slice of life’ photos – for the same reason i like woody allen’s slice of life movies.

big boy

so that’s photography.  now

my other love, which kinda links into yesterday’s post on home offices, is to make collages.  and don’t use that term …what do they say?… can’t think of it now but it’s some french term.  who knows what i’m talking about?  DECOUPAGE (just thought of it) it’s not that.  i like collages because i liked ripping stuff out and blowing up pictures and putting it all together as one big thing I like made of small things that i like.  does that make sense?  here is my work i’m so proud of.  it hangs in our extra room…

these are two panels and include:

photographs taken when katie and i went to stay at the broadmoor resort in colorado after dad died – just to get away, photos of chicago landmarks for me, snippets from magazines and things that i like.  i need to do more and have been inspired by the work done by eva :

lastly, a hobby i want to be able to do – actually two – one is sew and another is knit.  i found some cool knitted stuff on etsy:

i love all of these – what a unique yarn scarf above and the mug warmer – adorable!  you can get more info here on all of these etsy finds.

so – what hobby do you do – or what do you want to do?  XXOO

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appreciating: style

28 Oct

doesn’t that sound a bit on the narcissistic side, that i’d want to lift up and appreciate my style on my own blog?

oh well it may not be what you think.

having a style is more than what you wear, it’s how you define yourself. notice how i said “define yourself” not how others would define you. it’s how you express who you are on the inside and that is what makes it so interesting. other people are involved in your style and the best way is when they recognize something that would be “so you”. it means you’ve defined yourself – your style so well, that people attribute something to be “so you”. it always makes me smile when someone says ” i saw this thing today that was so you… i know you would love it”. it can be clothes, jewelry, home decor – anything. i think i’ve already told you that a friend i worked with in chicago told me after i left that she went out to lunch and thought of me the whole time (ha ha – not because she wolfed down a burger) because she bought some tuberoses for her office and listened to jill scott in her headphones. i love that!

celebrities usually have a strong sense of style because well, they have someone help them. they are called a stylist. you should hang out with a stylist. they are the REAL ones with style – so much so that they can mold and shape you into someone who has a “look”.

but speaking of celebrities, diane keaton is my style hero. nevermind that she was a woody allen muse for so long but that girl has some style and always has.

she first came on the scene strong in annie hall. this look is so diane and always will be.

this is my favorite picture below and one of my favorite scenes from annie hall. she is so awkward and funny with woody and it just makes you smile.

no woman, except katerine hepburn wore mens clothes

look how young and cool she is!

her style from her movies expressed itself in her own style. she always rocked the hat, and still does

and along with hats – it’s glasses (being a glasses girl myself, i love this! lasik doesn’t have as much style, does it?

i started out talking about my style, and honestly (between you and me) i’m a bit depressed about my style. right now my style lives on a pinterest board i created called “when i am skinny”. i’m at an all time high and so down and out that who i am on the inside is not matching who i am on the outside. don’t get all sorry for me… things don’t stay that way forever and there is a thought of a plan… but that is frustrating, isn’t it? right now, stress has won the last few rounds in the fight to take over my ‘style’ but i have not been knocked down! style always prevails…

i’m off traveling again, so stay tuned (exciting…!) to see where i’ll pop up tomorrow. have a great day!

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new york in black & white

18 Jul

i could be woody allen’s #1 fan.

wait wait.  i know what you’re thinking.  and before you judge me and say “how could you, he is sic, he married his wife’s adopted daughter etc…” i understand.  but hear my story first. long before all that drama…

it was my senior year in college and i took an urban life in media and film class.  it was supposed to be a blow off class but wasn’t and i got a lot out of it. it was there that i saw my first woody allen movie called Manhattan.

the scene opens with him reading lines from the start of a play, showing black & white, romantic shots of new york city dramatically shown to the tunes of George Gershwin.  he had me at hello…

“Chapter one. “ “He adored New York City. He idolised it all out of proportion. “
Uh, no. Make that “He romanticised it all out of proportion. “
“To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin. “
Uh… no. Let me start this over.
“Chapter one. “ “He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else.”

sitting in that class, i realized that someone had captured in words and music the passion i felt for life and big city.  this was about a city i loved – nyc – but it was also how i felt about my city of chicago.  i used to take the metro train from naperville to the city and walk about 9 blocks to college.  i loved the crisp, morning air and even the monotony of the 9 to 5’ers as they took for granted their big city routine.  not me!  i didn’t take it for granted,  i loved it.  i was 21 years old and had my whole life ahead of me.  the best part about that last sentence was that i knew i had a lot of good things in which to look forward.   to me, the mornings on the train  – watching the suburbs pass slowly then whiz past the beige industrial areas then the anticipation as the train slowed again to enter the big city  – all had the background music of George Gershwin.  the day pulsated with hope, zest and young optimism.  Continue reading →

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