The Secret Life of...

...BEES! On Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to go to a book discussion & signing with Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor. This mother-daughter duo wrote of their travels and the dynamics of their relationship as mother and daughter in their newly released book Traveling with Pomegranates. Whenever I write about an author or book, I never want to say anything bad because I already feel so indebted to authors in general for what they do for the world that I don't think they deserve to have any negative comments made about them. So without elaborating too much, I'll just say I wasn't particularly fond of Ann Kidd Taylor (the daughter). She was kind of dry and stiff. In her defense though, it must be hard to stand up there next to your mother - this best-selling author - and try to hold your own. Sue Monk Kidd lit up the stage. She is well-composed, well-dressed, well-spoken, and she makes 60-something look so fabulous! The best part of the night was when an older woman walked up to the mic during the Q & A session, and said something along the lines of, "I don't have a question. This is purely a thank you. I have been teaching for 50 years, and I just wanted to say thank (to Sue Monk Kidd) for writing the best book I've ever taught - The Secret Life of Bees." Everyone started clapping, and of course I started teary-eyed and couldn't stop...even as we were walking out to go get in line to get our books signed. Of course, my sister Natalie is practically RUNNING to get in line quickly. I think the autographed copy of The Secret Life of Bees will be one of my most treasured books. Thank you, Sue Monk Kidd.

I got my book signed!

Thank you to everyone who crossed their fingers that I would get my book signed. It worked! Last night was amazing! My sister Natalie and I arrived at the Eisemann Center about 15 minutes before it began with our just-purchased hardcover copies of Eat Pray Love. At this point, I was still incredibly doubtful that they would have a book signing for 1,200 people. We walked over to enter the seating area. The lady took our tickets and I asked her if there was going to be a book signing. She said yes and that's when I started hyperventilating. I was thinking, "Are you serious?!" So, we walked to our seats, ROW G - that's right, we were in the SEVENTH row! I kept sitting there thinking and saying, "Natty, can you believe it? I can't believe it! I can't believe that there is going to be a book signing! I mean, my heart is beating so fast!" She kept telling me to calm down.

The Director of the Arts & Letters Live program came out on stage to tell us a little bit about their upcoming events and told us that in our programs we all had notecards on which to write a question for Elizabeth that would be used during the Q&A session. Of course Natty and I were trying to think of the perfect question. She ended up writing "Do you still keep in touch with Richard from Texas and is he here tonight?" Very clever I thought. I wrote "What is the greatest opportunity you've been afforded due to your success?" And then I wrote "P.S. Thank you". The Arts & Letters director then continued to give us a little background on Ms. Gilbert. And then it was time. She walked out on stage, everyone started clapping, and I started to tear up. I was definitely able to control it though. I kept asking Natty how close she thought we were to Elizabeth...like, in yards or feet. She didn't know. I would estimate something like 40 feet, but honestly I am terrible at measurements and I don't really even know how far/close 40 feet is.

Elizabeth's talk was everything I expected. She was funny, she was honest, and she was inspiring. She mentioned that she is currently writing a book about matrimony. Both Natty and I agreed that our favorite part of the talk was when she addressed one of the notecards that asked if she would talk about having children vs. not having children. Elizabeth will be 40 this year and has come to the decision/realization that she will not have children. She made a couple of really good points.

1.) Not having children doesn't define one as being selfish, selfishness defines one as selfish.
2.)The world needs women who don't have children. She called them "sparents" - spare parents.

This really meant alot to me for some reason. I guess because I am already 28 going on 29, and I don't have kids yet. And while I would love a child (or two) someday, I still don't think I will be ready in the next couple of years. I am really enjoying my freedom right now.

When it was time for the book signing, Natty and I rushed out to the lobby. We were about 12th in line. I asked one of the employees if we were allowed to have a picture taken with her. She said Ms. Gilbert had agreed to that but only after everyone had the opportunity to get her book signed. Natty didn't want to wait because the line was really long. I totally understood, but she did agree to run off to the side after she had her book signed to take my picture next to Elizabeth. When it was Natty's turn to get her book signed, I told Ms. Gilbert that it was her birthday, and she wrote "Happy Birthday" in her book. Then of course when it was my turn, I couldn't think of anything to say other than "Hi". So lame of me. I just couldn't get past being starstruck. In the picture, Elizabeth wasn't looking in the direction of the camera, but it was good enough for me. Happy 23rd Birthday, Natty! And thank you to Ms. Gilbert

Elizabeth, here I come!

FINALLY! I get to see and hear and be in the same room as Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the acclaimed Eat Pray Love! She is going to be at the Charles W. Eisemann Center in Richardson, and I am going to see her next week! For those of you who read my post "Attraversiamo", you already know how I feel about this book. It is beautiful. And if I didn't already think the world of Ms. Gilbert, I found a short story online that she had written for the Paris Review back in 1996. It was perfection. I don't know that I have ever related to someone's writing style as much as I do hers. That being said, while I would really like to read a couple of other books she has written, I don't know that they would capture my interest in quite the same way. One is called Pilgrims, a collection of short stories that - come to think of it - I definitely want to read now especially after reading that Paris Review short story. And the other is called Stern Men. It's about a woman who was raised around a bunch of lobsterman - at least that's what I gathered from the few lines I read on Amazon. Anyway, now that I actually read those summaries, I do think I want to read them both. Wonder if I could have them both read before I go see her on Tuesday? Yeah right. I'm not that fast of a reader. But I must ask everyone to cross their fingers for me that we will have the opportunity to get our book signed. I would faint right then and there!

In English, Por Favor!

First of all, I just want to say I am SO HAPPY to be back as Veronica Gonzales and not Shawn Rabin. Long story, but I had two blogs (one for an attorney I work with) and all of my posts here were being signed with his name. Anyway, I fixed it all by myself...YAY! I'm a technologically-savvy woman!

So, last Thursday I left work at noon and went to hang with my (middle) sister, Natalie; my other (youngest) sister Vanessa refused to go see this movie. First, we went to eat lunch at Taco Diner (yummy) and then went to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 9. I really enjoyed it. Written and directed by Woody Allen, this film is about two women, Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), who go to Spain for the summer. They end up meeting an artist (need I say more?), Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem), who convinces them to join him in visiting the town of Oviedo. I will not spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but let's just say Oviedo is where things start to get interesting. Fast forward to Juan Antonio's ex-wife coming back into the picture - enter Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz). And if I said things got interesting in Oviedo, that is nothing compared to when Maria Elena appears on screen. Now, let me say this: Before I saw this movie, I could not stand Penelope Cruz. But now, I have a completely different opinion of her. I think she was amazing in this role as the passionate/psychotic (however you want to look at it) ex-wife. And I also found her to be incredibly beautiful in this movie. All the Spanish-speaking helped, I'm sure. Which brings me to my post title. When Maria Elena appears on screen, Juan Antonio and Cristina are living together and Maria Elena comes to live with them. She is immediately yelling at Juan Antonio and speaking Spanish and he keeps telling her "in this house, we speak ENGLISH!"; she keeps speaking Spanish and he tells her every time "In English, POR FAVOR!". It was priceless, and Natty and I could not stop laughing!

Call me crazy, but I loved all the arguing between Juan Antonio and Maria Elena. In a way, it reminded me of me and Brandon...minus the stabbing and gunshots. They have these heated arguments but they love each other so much and can't live without each other. I mean Penelope Cruz, WOW...I just can't say it enough...she was incredible!

Atraversiamo!

Welcome to 2008 - or as I like to call it "The Year of Getting My Ass in Gear." And what better way to start off the new year than by reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I don't know that I will do the book justice with this write-up. It is absolutely one of my favorite books I have ever read. When I was just halfway thru the book, I knew I wanted to share it with so many different people. I decided to give it as a Christmas gift to my mother, my 2 sisters and my cousin, Jenny(/i). My sister, Natalie, ended up finishing it before I did! (I'M SECOND!)

Elizabeth Gilbert is one of those authors with whom I instantly connected. She is someone that you want to be friends with, someone you want to travel with, someone you want to have brunch with...a likeable person in every way. In the book, Gilbert writes about her journey of self-discovery to Italy, India and Indonesia. Each destination was meant to serve a specific purpose. In Italy, she sought pleasure (what better place!). In India, she was to be devoted to prayer. And in Indonesia/Bali, she sought balance. At the end of it all, we are given a message of hope, purpose and fulfillment.

I cannot tell you how many times this book brought me to tears. Not tears of sadness, something else. You know, the tears that come from the pit of your stomach because "yeah, that makes sense" or "elizabeth, you touched my heart." Down to the last word, this book is magnificent. I have become so fond of Ms. Gilbert that I am even planning to take a trip to attend one of her lectures (cross your fingers that I will get my book signed). Visit her website for more info on my new best friend.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do (but easy to watch!)

This includes a movie spoiler so if you haven't seen The Break-Up and plan on doing so, please refrain from reading this post. I know it will be difficult, but go read something else like the Daughter of Opinion blog which has gotten me thru many boring afternoons at work...go ahead, go on.


So, I know The Break-Up isn't one of those "classics" or anything, but I thought it would be a fun post. I went to go see this at the movies with my Mom (yay, Mom...you finally got mentioned on my blog!) yesterday. I had been wanting to see it ever since it came out but it had just been overrun by other movies that my boyfriend "just HAD TO see" such as Superman, which sucked by the way. Anyhow, I still didn't get detered from seeing The Break-Up even when my boyfriend's sister Tara told me that it wasn't that great. I think her exact words were "I was so worn out by all the fighting by the time the movie was over." Much love Tara, but I still had to see it for myself! In addition to the fact that I love Jennifer Aniston and think Vince Vaughn is "just too cute" (shout out for Ben Cruz of Farmers Branch), I just had to find out what would happen to their relationship in the movie b/c we all know their off-screen relationship was sparked by this very movie. One of the great things about this movie is it's similarity to real life...well, to my real life anyway. I know there are those couples out there who hardly ever fight or if they do they aren't like real "blood and guts" fights, but in my mind sometimes you have to just get it all out and have a really good fight. And that's what they do in this movie - fight, fight, and fight some more. And even though I'm a sucker for an occasional "romantic, everything's perfect kinda movie", this is a nice (realistic) change of pace. Life (and relationships) are not always a happy ending and sometimes that is okay. You just gotta roll with the punches. For those of you who don't know me very well, I am a very feisty person with a hot, hot temper, and my sister says she would HATE to have me for a girlfriend. Sometimes I think I actually ENJOY arguing with Brandon...it gets my adrenaline pumping or something. We both hate being mad at each other, but little arguments here and there (like Brandon thinking that Penn and Teller are gods) keeps us both young and spunky. Brandon has decided to take on this "job" as my boyfriend for an entire year now...who would've thought?!? Not only has he taken on this job, but he has actually succeeded. I know there aren't many who could handle me (or many who would want to even try), but Brandon has done a swell job thus far. (P.S. I love you, Babe...you're the greatest.)

Okay, sorry my A.D.D is kicking in...wasn't this about a movie?!? Anyhow, yes you can just Netflix it, but I recommend seeing the movie at some point. Ladies, it's funny enough to where your boyfriend, husband or macho guy friends can sit thru it without giving you too much of a hard time. The casting was pretty good and even though I cannot stand Jon Favreau who plays the "best friend", he actually provided the funniest line of the movie, "I'm sweating like a Tijuana whore!" Great stuff. So yes, go see it and then post a comment about how you disagree wtih me and you hated the movie b/c they didn't get back together. And then you can take your happy endings and shove them...in my face and force me to yell at Brandon about how he's not romantic enough b/c he doesn't write me lame poems or send me flowers for no reason at all or surprise me with a candlelit dinner for two....I mean, c'mon who wants all those things?!? Ahem, cough, HINT HINT!!

Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.

I regret to inform you that I gave up on A Million Little Pieces...I made it to page 333, and I just can't take anymore of it. I mean, I was really into it there for awhile, but it just seemed to lose its spark and drag on and on and on. I think it was where Frey started talking about his love interest and how they used to meet in the woods behind the treatment center. It was as if I was reading blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, yeah the guy was in love, but he started writing about the sky and the birds and the trees and it just bored me to death. I may skim the rest of it at some point just to see what happens, but at this point I'm ready to move on.