Tag Archives: grandmothers

Sean Young Enters Rehab

With much of young Hollywood using rehab like a revolving door, I was a bit surprised today to hear that actress Sean Young has entered rehab for alcohol abuse. Sean was removed from the Directors Guild of America award show Saturday after she heckled the director of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel. While Julian was giving his speech, he began to falter, pausing, and running his hand through his hair. Sean hollered out “Get on with it!” Julian had a great rebound though, asking “Who said that to me?” Once he saw it was Sean, he replied … Continue reading →

Grandma According to Me – Karen Magnuson Beil

My grandmother passed away eight years ago, and although it has been a while, her memory is still vivid with me. I love “Grandma According to Me” as it is told through the eyes of a young girl, and it so closely echoes the thoughts and feelings I have about my own grandmother. We read that Grandma has a nice big lap, and she can hold two children in it at the same time, but our narrator likes it best when she has Grandma all to herself. Grandma’s lap is as soft as a pillow, and there aren’t any places … Continue reading →

Child of the Owl – Laurence Yep

Laurence Yep is another one of my favorite young adult authors. In “Child of the Owl,” he takes us to a world he knew well – Chinatown in the 1960’s. Our character is Casey, the twelve-year-old daughter of a compulsive gambler named Barney. He’s taken her all over the country, following one hot tip after another, most of the time having to live in run-down hotels and washing dishes in restaurants for their dinner. He keeps telling her that someday, he’ll hit it big and they’ll have a penthouse full of comics and games and clothes, and she pretends to … Continue reading →

“What?” cried Granny … an almost bedtime story – Kate Lum

My children have a hard time going to sleep at night unless everything is just right, so this book struck me as funny on a couple of different levels. Patrick is having a sleepover with his granny, his very first ever. He’s excited, but there’s just one little problem. When Granny tells him to get ready for bed, he realizes that he doesn’t have a bed at Granny’s house. When he tells her . . . “What?” cries Granny, and she immediately runs out to her workshop and builds him a bed out of trees she has cut down from … Continue reading →

People’s Choice Award Winners

Did you get a chance to catch the People’s Choice Awards last night on CBS? The People’s Choice Awards lets you the viewing public chose your favorites from television, music, and movies. People’s Choice was the brainchild of creator Bob Stivers and first aired on CBS in 1975. Many times, the People’s Choice Awards that are given vary significantly from other award shows such as the Academy Awards or Golden Globes because it is based purely on your enjoyment. Over the years, the categories have changed a bit, but there are usually categories like Favorite Leading Lady and Favorite On-Screen … Continue reading →

The Women in Our Lives

We often look back on previous years and generations with a sense of longing and regret, because what is the present day is not the same as then and we all feel it. But no where do we feel it more keenly than in the area of raising our children. Where once when a baby was born, the women of the family converged to provide support for the mom – too often we are far away from our mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters, cousins, sisters-in-law, aunts and more. Too often we are alone when it comes to those long hours in the … Continue reading →

Grandma’s Latkes – Malka Drucker

Happy Hanukkah! To commemorate the last day of this special holiday, I found a charming children’s picture book by Malka Drucker called “Grandma’s Latkes.” Molly is finally old enough to help Grandma make latkes, but she can’t grate potatoes as fast as her grandmother can. Seeking a break for her tired arms, she asks, “How did you learn to make latkes?” Grandma explains that this recipe was handed down from her own grandmother, who would save her pennies for oil, potatoes, eggs and onions, and before Hanukkah every year, she would buy what she needed to prepare for the feast. … Continue reading →

Gwyneth Paltrow Anti-American?

Is Gwyneth Paltrow anti-American? The accusation made by fans has the actress fighting back. According to PEOPLE magazine, the 34-year-old Oscar winner is “deeply upset” over stories claiming she made anti-American remarks, which she claims are a “big mistake.” The recent criticism of Paltrow came after she was quoted as telling the Portuguese newspaper Diario De Noticias, “The British are much more intelligent and civilized than the Americans.” But, the actress claims she never said anything against her native country. “I felt so upset to be completely misconstrued and I never, ever would have said that,” Paltrow told American journalists. … Continue reading →

A White Bird Flying — Bess Streeter Aldrich

I have read several books by this Nebraskan author of early last century, and while I enjoyed them all, this one is my favorite. I identified personally with the main character, Laura Deal, on many different levels and so this book spoke to me in ways that the others didn’t. We start the story with Laura Deal at twelve years old, visiting the house of her recently departed grandmother one last time. She walks through the house dispassionately at first, seeing herself as one of the characters in the stories she loves to write, but then the realization that her … Continue reading →

Celebrity Babies: “Who’s My Daddy” and “I Love Being A Daddy”

The daddy battle is intensifying in the Anna Nicole Smith case. According to news reports, photographer Larry Birkhead, who claims to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s newborn daughter, Dannielynn Hope, just filed papers in a California court to establish paternity and obtain legal custody of the child. This of course follows on the heels of the death of Smith’s son and the claim by Smith’s attorney, Howard K. Stern that he is the baby’s father. (It’s been reported that Stern and Smith held a commitment ceremony in the Bahamas last week.) Various media outlets are now reporting that … Continue reading →