Tag: memories

Photo Friday, No. 927

Current Photo Friday theme: Vibrant


Mattel model Abby, wearing one of my dresses based on a McCall’s pattern, in the Place d’Armes Hotel courtyard, New Orleans, May 2009. I was there for a literary conference, and writers had fun posing with my dolls.

I’m happily compelled to share this comment from my last week’s “Album Cover” theme, about a photo that I originally used for a Photo Friday challenge in October of last year. Marc is the person who started the Photo Friday site in 2002, and I told him his comment made my year.

Can I tell you, Becky, that this shot, when you originally posted it, *is* the shot that inspired the #album_cover challenge. It’s a great shot with such lovely storytelling in a single frame. Kudos! marc · Sep 19 2024

Sweet dreams, Troubadour

I was already asleep last night when Jim texted the news that J.D. Souther has died. His text was the first thing I read this morning. I’ve tipped my hat to Souther before on this site. The songs he wrote, the songs he sang, his collaborations with other artists including Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt… All part of the poetry that gave a soundtrack to the hopes, dreams, fears, and heartbreaks of my formative years. He had a tour scheduled with Karla Bonoff beginning later this month.


I’m sharing this photo by Henry Diltz and the following story, both taken from the Instagram feed lostcanyonsla.

J.D. Souther and Linda Ronstadt were inarguably one of the hottest and most talented couples in the LA canyon scene of the early 1970s. In the documentary on Ronstadt’s life, “The Sound of My Voice,” Souther tells a cute story of how their relationship began after meeting at the Troubadour. “I said, I think you should cook me dinner,” Souther recalls. “She said, okay and gave me her phone number. I went over and she made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I fell in love with her. The next day I said ‘Listen, let’s go get your stuff, you’re going to live with me.’”

It’s the kind of story I’d write* for the Neverending Saga, but it’s real. The romantic relationship didn’t last, but their friendship endured. And J.D. Souther’s music will endure.

*I DID write a PB&J sandwich story into a romantic encounter years before I read this real-life one. Timothy keeps reminding me that nothing is new and that’s okay.

Tiny Tuesday!


When I pulled the Alex and Emma DVD off the shelf the other day, I thought it was a film about a musician and a lyricist instead of a writer and a stenographer. Yesterday, I realized how I made the mistake. I was probably thinking of 2007’s Music and Lyrics, in which Hugh Grant plays a musician named ALEX Fletcher, a former superstar whose band broke up several years before.

Now Alex plays nostalgia gigs, county fairs, and amusement parks. He’s given a shot at relevancy with the chance to compose a song for a reigning pop star with a passionately devoted audience (think Britney/ Christina/ Miley/ Taylor). The problem is, he’s had a songwriting block for years and needs a lyricist. Enter Sophie, played by Drew Barrymore, who’s subbing for the woman who usually comes to his apartment to take care of his plants. Sophie once studied writing and has a gift with words, but a bad relationship zapped her confidence. Can these two be the answer to each other’s creative challenges? It’s a RomCom, we know the answer, but it’s fun getting there. The supporting cast adds to the fun : Haley Bennett as the pop singer Cora Colman; Kristen Johnson as Rhonda, Sophie’s older sister; and more characters played by Brad Garrett, Matthew Morrison, Billy Griffith, and Jason Antoon. I didn’t remember seeing the movie before, but Tim thinks I watched it with him, and he’s probably right. =)

I still have romantic comedy DVDs on the shelf, but I’m not sure how many more I’ll watch (though we’re having another bout of summer heat). I mentioned that I’d be rewatching one of my favorite movies with Al Pacino. The DVD came, but somehow I missed that it’s only playable on Region 2 devices, and alas, the U.S. is a Region 1 country. I’m thwarted; any Region 1 DVD of the film I can find is priced prohibitively. Maybe one day.

Today, I went back to the source of wee Becky’s love for romantic comedies: Miss Doris Day. I wasn’t born or was too young for her early career, but I had a mother who liked to watch old movies with me on the weekends. Though I came to her late, Doris Day movies became favorites. I think I found this collection last year-ish in Target or somewhere similar. Naturally, I grabbed it. Not all of the six films are romantic comedies, but they all have Miss Day and her great leading men.

The fashion in 1959’s Pillow Talk adds to my enjoyment of this movie. I REALLY love Doris Day and Rock Hudson (playing composer Brad Allen and his alter-ego “Rex Stetson”) together, and wardrobe did right by them. I’ve never opened my Pillow Talk doll set by Mattel because I want to keep everything pristine. This certainly wasn’t the way I started out with dolls after Neighbor Nancy gave me her Barbie collection when I was around nine. I played with every outfit that came from Nancy, and my mother added to the Barbie couture as she could, whether she sewed doll clothes, bought off-brand doll fashion, or sprung for Mattel outfits.

As I watched Pillow Talk today, I thought of how the movie could have been a direct inspiration for some of my vintage doll fashions. Here’s interior decorator Jan Morrow fresh out of bed in an early scene.

My doll Cassidy models a mid-1960s blue and white lace pegnoir set (not a Mattel label) that my mother bought for my dolls’ wardrobe.

Doris in the boudoir screen caps: pretty in pink, looking happy.


Looking worried.


Cassidy modeling Mattel’s 1960s Barbie Nighty Negligee Set No. 965. This is two pieces–the gown and the robe–and I believe it’s from Lynne’s collection.

Tiny dolls, big nostalgia, and a film full of entertaining scenes enhanced by Thelma Ritter, Tony Randall, and singer Perry Blackwell, who makes the absolute most of her lounge singer scene.

Saturday No. 1

I got a working DVD of 1998’s You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan sometime last week. You may remember that I was watching my previous DVD version and it got to a halfway-ish point in the movie and stopped working. I think it was because there was some kind of tie-in between AOL, Microsoft, and the DVD, and it would play only on a computer with a certain version of Microsoft Windows that was released in 1997. Which is kind of funny, because 1997 is when I got my first Windows-based PC (before that, I’d only had Apple/Mac products). If I still had that computer, I probably could have watched the DVD.

The reason we got that computer was because I was reeling from several years’ losses of friends to AIDS, and my friend Lisa Y had, on a whim one day on a contract job we had, showed me how to access chat rooms. Tom said AOL was known for its chat rooms, so if we got a PC and loaded AOL on it, maybe I could find an AOL chat room with supportive people who’d experienced some of the things I’d been going through since 1989.

“Meeting” someone through communication via AOL email and Instant Messaging who turns out to be meaningful is basically the plot line of You’ve Got Mail. Among the people I met in the chatroom I landed in were Timothy, Jim, and Timmy, who became my friends and my writing partners, plus a stranger-then-friend who turned out to be a distant cousin from my father’s side of the family (what were the chances?).

That whole AOL experience is so LAST century, right? Yet in a viewer reaction to the movie, someone mentioned how outdated the technology is but NO ONE CARES because it’s still a good movie. I think it is, too. Like Sleepless In Seattle, there’s something so quietly sweet in the chemistry between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I say that despite how the plot line has his character (Joe Fox) opening a big box bookstore that unapologetically aims to put her character (Kathleen Kelly)’s charming independent bookstore, inherited from her mother, out of business. By the time that movie came out, I’d been a bookseller in a chain, but I shopped at local booksellers, too, and I regretted every one lost. Ironically, ultimately, Amazon not only ate the independents, it continues the process of putting bookstore chains out of business.

Until last night’s conclusion of You’ve Got Mail, I hadn’t rewatched movies this week. I got in the mood to reread a book series that I first became acquainted with in junior high school. That’s a story for another time, but it’s provided a much-needed diversion from an anxiety-filled week.

Photo Friday, No. 926

Current Photo Friday theme: Album Cover


I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot this cover photo. Credit to Dorothy Cochrane.


This is a photo I shot in 1979. One of the children pictured is my nephew Josh, all grown up and a musician now. When he saw it, he said it’d make a great album cover. He then recorded an EP called Slow Down and…made it an album cover. =)

Sunday Sundries

Back when I was still working and going to transport two to three times a week, one of the things I did to make arriving to work between 6 and 6:30 AM more bearable was to wear a lot of bracelets. In those days (not really THAT long ago), stacking bracelets was called an “arm party.” I looked up the term; it’s still used, and people still do it, although bracelet styles have been added.

None of my bracelets was expensive, which was part of the appeal for me (I often made my own; plus if a dog was going to jump on me in a friendly way and a bracelet broke, it wouldn’t be a big loss). Almost all of my bracelets hang on a stand on my dresser, and some of them were gifts.


I never wore this bracelet, however, because the string seemed fragile. I’m not absolutely certain of its origin. It either came from Tom after he went on a barefoot cruise with his family in 1992, or it could have come from someone in his family after a trip to Hawaii.


A heap o’bracelets.

Here’s a photo of a couple of my favorites, a guitar set in a leather strap (in honor of the Neverending Saga’s musician), and one of wraparound beads, both of which I purchased as a treat to myself in 2020, when no one was going shopping, and so many stores were closed. I think both of them were advertised on my Instagram feed.

Then, OOPS! As I returned the wraparound bracelet to the stand, the elastic band broke. Beads were bouncing around on my laptop keyboard and all over the tile floor in the sanctuary. It took Tom and me using the mini-vacuum, a broom and dustpan, and a phone flashlight to find them all (hopefully). Maybe I’ll build another bracelet or a necklace with the loose beads. Who knows.


Meanwhile, I proceeded with the remaining two of my Bridget Jones movie rewatches, 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby. I like all the movies, but The Edge of Reason is my least favorite because I often want to scream at Bridget for the way her insecurities cause her to make dumb choices. I understand it; after all, there could have been no second film if the hopefully-ever-after of the first movie hadn’t gone south for some reason in the intervening years.

I remember after Timothy James Beck’s first novel, It Had To Be You, which tells the story of Daniel and Blaine, came out, so many readers wrote to ask us for a continuation of their story. They even wanted the same story but from Blaine’s point of view. Those are things best left to readers’ imaginations. It’s not much fun for a writer to retell a story just because it’s from a different point of view. If multiple POVs are necessary to tell the same story, it’s best to use an omniscient narrator in a single novel. Our second TJB novel introduced an entirely new character and narrator. When we continued to get requests for more Daniel and Blaine, I said to my writing partners, “Be careful what you wish for!” We then proceeded to break up the characters for the third novel–but at least it was told from Blaine’s perspective!

Back to Bridget: I like the third movie and the baby storyline much better, mostly because by now, Bridget has learned to be more independent, to forge a more successful career for herself, and to work hard to get herself healthier. She still sometimes tends to react to things that look suspect without simply confronting other characters and demanding explanations. This trait does add conflict and push the plot along, but it makes me doubt that she’s maturing.

The last surprise at the end of the movie adds to the fun. Now that I know there’s a fourth movie planned, I look forward to seeing how the various characters are juggled in Bridget’s future. Bonuses: Bridget’s group of friends are still around and still fun, even if their lives are changing. And her parents, played by Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent, always make me laugh (her mother) or happy (her father).

Is it fall yet (no)

This year, the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere lands on Sunday, September 22, at 7:44 AM central time (the zone I’m in). This has little to do with Houston’s weather. These are the seasons as I’ve observed them at Houndstooth Hall:
•hot, wet, and mosquito-filled
•hot, dry, and the palmetto bugs want to come indoors
•OMG, was that…a breeze?
•call the plumber, your pipes froze and split in the middle of the night

Hurricane season is a myth, as it can put in an appearance during any of those first three seasons.

The other day, while outside with the dogs, I spotted this on the ground and thought, “Fall!”

Then I decided it probably was brought here by a migrating bird who came from a place of real seasons bearing a symbol of hope. Thanks, bird!

It has been cooler here this week, but my mind hasn’t been at ease. For two years now, we’ve been on the receiving end of advice, suggestions, harassment, warnings!!!!, that we need a generator to alleviate the impact of power outages. If you’ve read here during the worst of our winter storms and the extended power outages of this year in particular, you know it’s a sound idea. If only the people who sound off wanted to contribute to the Houndstooth Hall Generator Fund. I’ve spent the last few days since we got our quote figuring out how to budget the cost with other steep and unexpected expenses this year. Whatever. We’ll figure it out. It can’t be done before “hurricane season” ends, but it will happen.

In the meantime, we’re still in OMG, was that a breeze? season, which means summer continues, as does RomCom Summer. Here are my most recent rewatches from the past few days when I’m not nervously crunching numbers (and Nacho Doritos).

An argument can be made that 1990’s Pretty Woman is the definitive film in the RomCom genre. The original screenplay was much darker, and one version even included the demise of Vivian. Not on Héctor Elizondo’s watch! The chemistry between Vivian and Edward, as played by Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, is off the charts. There are so many quotable moments and memorable scenes in this film: Rodeo Drive, the polo field, the boardrooms, and the restaurants. Each viewing, I remember I adore Elinor Donahue as Bridget and Patrick Richwood as Dennis the elevator operator (he and Héctor Elizondo team up again in The Princess Diaries, which deserves a rewatch, too).

Others might argue that the RomCom trend near the end of the previous century was kicked off by 1989’s When Harry Met Sally. Maybe, but rewatching this one wasn’t as fun for me. The humor’s there, the snappy dialogue’s there, but ultimately, I think I like Meg Ryan’s Sally and Billy Crystal’s Harry better as friends. I’d totally forgotten Harley Jane Kozak played Harry’s ex, Helen. As always, Carrie Fisher, who plays Sally’s friend Marie, is outstanding. (This probably means I’m going to need to rewatch Postcards from the Edge because of her excellent writing–as well as the cast’s performances.) This also got me in the mood to watch Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. Unfortunately, a DVD issue brought that to a screeching halt after the first forty minutes, so my viewing has been postponed.

Instead, I watched 1982’s Tootsie, and just giving that date stuns me. FORTY-TWO years! I do thoroughly enjoy the entire cast that supports Dustin Hoffman as Michael and Jessica Lange as Julie. Rewatching this sent me on a deep dive of the other movies Sydney Pollack directed (he was also sometimes a producer, writer, and actor–in fact, he plays Michael’s agent in this film). These are some of my favorites from among them: This Property Is Condemned, Jeremiah Johnson, The Way We Were, The Electric Horseman, Absence of Malice, Out of Africa, and the remake of Sabrina. Kudos to the late Mr. Pollack, and I was reminded of an incident from my deep past. I was at McFarland Mall in Tuscaloosa one day, and on a whim, I went solo to a matinee at the mall’s theater. This would have been 1977, and I know this not because of the movie I saw, which I don’t remember, but because after that movie, a poster on another wall compelled me forward.


All my brain could process was Michael Corleone!! (1972’s The Godfather, 1974’s The Godfather II, as well as the title character of 1973’s Serpico). Unfortunately, those were my days as a poor student, so I couldn’t spring for another movie, even if it was directed by Sydney Pollack. I never saw Bobby Deerfield. Maybe one day. I do own both those Godfathers and Serpico, though. =) Spoiler: There’ll be another favorite RomCom rewatch with Al Pacino soon.

My rewatch to wind down last night was 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary. Again, great supporting cast and side stories, and Renee Zellweger as Bridget, along with the ultimate RomCom face-off between Hugh Grant as Daniel and Colin Firth as Mark, are all brilliant casting. It was announced in April that there’s to be a fourth movie in the Bridget Jones franchise. =)

Stay tuned…

Photo Friday, No. 925

Current Photo Friday theme: Many


Many Pennys.

Created in 1963, and sold as late as 1970, by the Deluxe Reading/Topper Toy Company, the Penny Brite doll was intended to be a solution for parents who wanted their children to play with fashion dolls who looked younger than the dolls in the Mattel line. In 2007, Charisma Brands reintroduced the doll, along with additional outfits and a carrying case, for $69.95. I don’t know what her original price was, but likely in the three- to five-dollar range.

Writing prompt

Today has been a research day with only a small bit of writing. My character has wanted something she can’t get, and now she will be meeting the person who thwarted her. When she takes the time to listen to a bit of this person’s family history, she begins to understand. The problem is, I’M the one who has to come up with that history, and it’s taken many hours of research and thought. I’ll be ready to dive into writing it all tomorrow, I hope.

In the interest of writing something, I grabbed this book and opened it to a random page, where the prompt read, Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets? I thought of another of my characters who finds late afternoon and early evening the low point of his day. He gets that from me. Sunrises. Definitely sunrises, never more so than when we have power outages, and I get to experience what I wrote below. Don’t know if you can read it, but feel free to share your own preference in comments.