The Disappearance

There was a major incident today at Imagination Learning...Palmer went missing.  Apparently, at some point someone noted that he wasn't around.  They began to look for him.  Once they could not find him in the room, an all out search began.  Did he escape the building somehow?  Where was he?

Here's where he was:

Those poor teachers.  He was tucked in that space between the bookcase and the wall and from all reasonable angles he was invisible.   He must have been tired, my little pumpkin.  There is never a dull moment.  Not a one.

Joan, Joan, Joan

Season 5 of Mad Men begins tomorrow and I am anticipating it greatly.   There have been a fantastic few years of great dramatic television series and Mad Men is certainly at top of my list, right up there with The Sopranos and True Blood.   So much about the show appeals to me.   The office environment, the male/female workplace dynamics, the era (which isn't much examined), the deeply emotional and psychologically complex story lines and character development.  It is a deep and delicate dance that is peppered with intermittent moments of horror and revulsion.

Though the molten core of the show is certainly Don and Peggy, I must admit a fascination with Joan. Played by Christina Hendricks, she is an intriguing and beguiling character.  Joan is the office manager for the advertising agency that is the backbone of Mad Men.  She is sexy but maternal.  She is tough but knows when to back off.  She lets the madness around her happen and chooses her moment to intervene carefully.  She is fantastic under pressure---a force of stillness in the midst of mayhem.  She can be cutting and direct, but her motives are rarely poor.

One of the scenes that encapsulates her to me is this one...maybe one of the most memorable Mad Men sequences ever.  Bear in mind that this idiocy is happening in the office where everyone is drunk after work and thinking its rational to drive around a lawn mower.  (Side note:  I talked to my former boss this week and we've often talked about Joan as he's a Mad Men fan too and he said he'd never be able to watch this again because his son cut off his toe with the lawnmower this past weekend!)  You'll see Joan being Joan--both in her interaction with Peggy and with the "incident".  Handling it.  Dealing.  On point.  She rarely shows weakness unless she knows she can do it safely and unobserved.

I totally admit that egocentric or not,  I see glimmers of myself in her. I definitely identify with her and that is why I love her character so much.  I need 25 pounds surrendered to the treadmill,  her wardrobe and push up bras, and her hair color.  And then you can bring on the madness---or more of it, anyway.

My Middle Name Is Marilyn (Really)

Love this.  Just love it. 

Its The Little Things...

that make life great.   Like a cute baby boy and a fantastic hairdresser who makes hair that looks like this in the sunshine on St. Patrick's Day.   Fa-shizzle!

Red High Heels

Palmer's about to show us just how missing him feels....in his red high heels.

 

Face Off

Basketball ended last weekend with a whimper.  Connor's team lost.  They had a little ceremony afterward and here are some shots of his face during the awards.

Murder One

Two weekends ago we had the best time at a dinner party given by our friends, Randall and Sharon. It was a murder mystery dinner where all of the guests are assigned and play certain characters and act out a funeral dinner for the victim who had been shot in his restaurant. Bob played "Rocco", the mobster brother of the victim. I played "Tara Misu" is moll. It was fantastically fun but maybe, just maybe, two weeks later I'm still a bit hungover.

All of us in costume went to the neighbor's house at 10pm for a photo.  Imagine their horror when seeing this mob at their doorstep. 

Tara and Rocco before dinner.  I'm in my real fur coat that I never wear.  But Tara would wear it!

Rocco being bad.

Our friends Andrew and Kristin playing paramours, Bo and Angel.

Rocco with a picture of his dead twin, Pepi.

Me and Mama, the widow, played by my friend Michelle to the absolute hilt.

This is our friend Randall playing a truly derange priest.  He was kind of frisky.  I understand that's not totally unusual. 

Tara and her confessor

The spectacular Italian restaurant Sharon and Randall created.