The Japanese have a lovely custom of handing everyone hot towels when they sit down at the table.  I think our restaurants should follow suit.  I notice Delta airlines also does this.  Love it.

I don’t know what they see in each other.

Let’s face it - Cate can play everyone.

Cate Blanchett.  Class and cheekbones.

Last May I hiked up a mountain side in Rwanda to see Dian Fossey’s Gorilla’s in the mist.  Yes, they really are in the mist.  Coming from the plains of the midwest i was blissfully unaware of the effects of altitude.

We had walking sticks and guides to help push and pull us up the steep inclines.  I couldn’t understand why I could not breathe.  I thought what is wrong with me?   Finally somebody menitoned that we were about 10,000 feet up and it dawned on me. 

I am so glad I did it, at age 50, because I doubt I will ever do it again.

OK, Joyce - I am 5 years younger and clearly remember your teen success.  We even read your work in my high school English classes.  I am one of those who has had a love/hate relationship with you all these years, so I’m game.  I just downloaded Labor Pains to my Kindle.  I am looking forward to it.  Congrats on your advance!

I am repulsed by how attracted I am to her husband.

Oh - and Ms. Bergen - Have I got a part for you.

These next six weeks are among the most exciting and eventful of my life.  I am 50.  I spent years being an unhappy wife of a small town funeral director.  I made some changes. 

Tomorrow I go to Rwanda as part of a humanitarian trip sponsored by Women For Women International.  We will visit genocide memorials, hear stories of survivors, spend two days at the school attending classes with the women we sponsor, visit an orphanage (this will be hard) and spend two days on the mountain with the gorillas. 

Then - when I come back, I spend time in New York where a play I wrote about being a small town funeral director’s wife is having it’s premiere at The Richmond Shepard Theater.  

Then - I fly to LA where someone is interested in a screenplay I wrote on the same experience.

Man, life just gets better and better the older we get, ladies! 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this film yesterday. It was so real it made me nervous. I had to get up and walk around the room during the movie. (On DVD, Netflix) I was jittery. I have seen all the nominated performances and if I had a vote, it would be for Ms. Leo. I also need to recommend The Visitor. It has a similar urgent vibe to it. Slumdog deserves all the attention it is receiving, Frozen River and the Visitor do, also.

Hello Amelie - I am not sure why I got the invitation. They are taking 20 people and there may be room left if you would like to go. Just contact them. They took their first group to Rwanda last year and it went well, so they are going again. The trip is being organized through Metta Journeys. Google them, they are a fascinating tour/adventure group. It is quite expensive, but we are told that a great deal of our payment will go back into the school. We have to get ourselves there. I will go Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Narobi and a short flight to Kigali. The Nairobi to Kigali leg was booked through Metta Journeys. They could have booked the whole trip for me but I wanted to use my Northwest Airline points. I am assured I will be met at the Kigali airport and escorted through the rest of the week. We will be staying at Kigali’s only AAA hotel but then will visit local homes as well as the school and businesses the women have set up. I hope to meet one of my “sisters”. One day we get a guided hiking tour in the mountains to see the gorilla’s. This will be my third trip to Africa, but my first experiencing the local life so completely. I recently read that if planet Earth could experience just one day of no violence we would see an unbelievable change in climate. Severe storms, earthquakes, floods etc….are influenced by the negative energy of man’s inhumanity to man. I am not sure if I am quite as metaphysical as all that, but it’s worth a try, so I to do my little bit. It is quite rewarding when one of the women we sponsor graduates. Thanks for your message - Kathy

Hello - You are wise to be suspicious of various agencies, however Women For Women International is extremely well regarded. They have an office in Washington D.C. and Oprah and others have recommended it. This trip I am going on is the 2nd time they have taken donors to Rwanda. The first trip was last year and it went well so they are confident it is safe to go again. Take a look at their website http://www.womenforwomen.org. Thanks, KATHY

I have been a supporter of Women for Women International for several years. I have been offered and accepted the opportunity to go to Rwanda this May to visit the school, attend a graduation ceremony and see the cottage industries that have sprung up as a result of women helping women. There is something inside me that just feels the health of Africa is central to the health of the planet.

Hi - I just pre ordered Apologize Apologize for my Kindle. It will be downloaded March 2nd. Susan Gaabriel - I tried to dowload your new book Seeking Sara Summers, but it’s not on the Kindle. I did download your book Stir of Echo. I look forward to reading both.

I, too, received my Kindle last summer. I truly love it. Can’t imagine being without it. I bemoan the lack of backlight - mainly because my husband doesn’t like a light on when he watches TV. I do find that I can only find about 4 out of 10 books available anytime I try to download. I am searching from new releases reviewed in major newspapers and magazines. One unexpected benefit - it’s a great ice breaker. I have yet to be using it in an airport, restaurant, or resort without someone asking me about it. it’s like having a dog.